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STEELE'S 



BOOK OF 



NIAGARA FALLS. 



EIGHTH EDITION. 



CAREFULLY REVISED AND IMPROVED. 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

MAPS OP THE FALLS AND IMMEDIATE VICINITY, 

AND OP THE NIAGARA RIVER, FROM 



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BUFFALO : 
OLIVER G. STEELE. 



1640. 




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Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1840, by 

OLIVER G. STEELE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Northern District of New York. 



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PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. 



The following work has now reached the eighth 
edition, and has been constantly increasing in popular 
favor. It is now admitted to be an indispensable com- 
panion for all persons desirous of obtaining accurate 
information, and a correct idea of this greatest wonder 
of the world. 

The work was originally prepared by Mr. H. A. Par- 
sons, who was for a long time resident at the Falls, and 
familiar with the whole scenery at all seasons of the 
year, as well as with all the interesting localities in the 
vicinity; who omitted no means of obtaining accurate 
information in relation to the various facts stated, and 
his work was the first on that subject, of any extent or 
accuracy, ever published. 

The present edition has been carefully revis d, as well 
as improved in many particulars. New and ccirect maps 
of the Niagara River from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, 
and of the Falls and immediate vicinity, have been 
added, and also, six new and accurate views of the Falls, 
from the most commanding positions. The work is now 
believed to be correct in every respect; and far superior 
to any other yet before the public. 



87S96 



f 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, - . - - - 

General Directions to Travellers, 

Niagara River, its Sources and Islands, 

The Rapids, - - - - - 

Goat, or Iris Island, ... 

The Falls, Terrapin Bridge and Tower, 
Biddle Stair Cose, Coins' Cave, &c. 
The Ferry, - - - - - 

Canada Views, City or the Falls, . 
Welland Canal, - - - . 

Brock's Monument, - - . 

Burning Spring, .... 

Table Rock, Stair Case, - - - 

Barnett's Museum, - - - - 

Summer and Winter Scenery, 
River below the Falls, - - . 

Descriptions, Remarks of Hennepin, Tonti, Hontan, 
Curiosities, &c. - - . . 

Mineral Spring, - - - . 

Whirlpool, . - - - - 

Devil's Hole, 

Tuscarora Indians, - . - - 

Battles, - _ - . . 

Bridges, - - _ - - 

Places of Resort, Minerals, - - - 

Incidents, • . • . . 

Steam Boat Caroline, . ... 

Hermit of the Falls, 

Village of Niagara Falls, 

Number of Visiters, .... 

Description of the Falls by Duke of Liancourt. 

Do. by Rev. Andrew Reed, 
Distances, ...... 

Note— Brock's Monument, . . 

VIEWS. 

View of the American Falls from below, 
" " " Goat Island, 

'* Canada Falls from Goat Island, . 

♦* Entire Falls from the Clifton House, 

** Brock's Monument, at Queenston, 

** Canada Falls from below, . 



&.C. 



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BOOK OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



In these days of rapid travelling, when the most 
trifling delay is deemed a calamity, a few directions may 
be necessary, to enable you to save time, and view the 
various points of interest to the best advantage. At the 
same time wo can not help deprecating the mania so 
prevalent at the present day, of making our excursions 
for pleasure, mere races against time. No person should 
come to Niagara, for the first time, and leave the same 
day ; it is utterly impossible for one to conceive or 
realize its grandeur or beauty in such a visit — in fact 
one can hardly endure the bodily fatigue of simply 
climbing up and down the various stair-cases, hillsy 
rocks, &c., much less can the mind take in and ap- 
preciate the various objects of interest which necessa- 
rily present themselves in such quick succession, when 
endeavoring to see the whole of Niagara in a day. 

It is a common custom for visiters on arriving at Nia- 
gara, to hasten, immediately upon alighting from their 



14 



BOOK OF 



Directions to Travellers. 



P 

PR; 

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it, 



conveyance, to catch a first glimpse at the mighty cata- 
ract; and this view may in all probability be one of the 
least attractive — they feel disappointed — and wonder 
at the eulogium bestowed by other travellers, who have 
used more time and discretion, jump into the first car 

that leaves, and praise the falls, because every 

one else does, not because they have witnessed or appre- 
ciated its beauties themselves ! 

Should you arrive on the American side, you will of 
course stop at one of the Hotels, of which the principal 
are the Cataract Hotel, kept by P. Whitney & Sons, 
and the Eagle Hotel, by C. B. Griffen & Cc , both 
of which are excellent houses. After recovering in some 
measure from the fatigue of your journey, take the street 
to the right around either of the Hotels, and proceed a 
few rods, to the bridge that leads across the rapids to 
Bath and Goat Islands ; you will stop at the toll-house 
on Bath Island when you pass over, record your name 
in the register and pay twenty-five cents, which entitles 
you to visit all the islands, with their appendages, as 
often as you please during your visit, or for the year, 
without any additional charge. And if you choose to 
cross in a carriage, you pay no more. Proceed next to 
Goat Island, where you will find guide-boards directing 
you to all the most interesting places and objects around 
the island. Follow the gravel walks at the right, down 



THE FALLS. 



15 



Directions to Travellers. 



to the cascade or centre fall, and cross a narrow bridge 
to Luna Island, from the farther comer of which you 
will have the best and most splendid view of the falls 
on the American side. Retracing your steps to the 
gravel walk, proceed next to the Biddle Stair-case ; de- 
sttend that without fail, as you will there have a magni- 
ficent and much admired view of the two entire falls, 
standing between them, and an opportunity, if the wind 
be favorable, of passing a considerable distance behind 
either sheet, with the tremendous flood pouring over 
you from a height of 150 feet. From the foot of the 
stair-case, turn first to the right and go to the Cave 
of the Winds, under the centre fall, and in returning, 
follow the path to t^e great Crescent fall. 

Reaching the top of the island again, proceed to the 
farther corner, where you will find the Stone Tower, 
forty-five feet high, with winding steps to the top, and 
also the Terrapin Bridge, from both which places you 
will have decidedly the best and most impressive views 
of the falls, that can be had from any position. Here 
you will realize power, grandeur, sublimity, immensity, 
— no pen or tongue can describe it. 

Pursuing your way with a view to go entirely round 
the island, — as you ought without fail to do, inasmuch 
as you will thus get a much better view of the rapids 
and surrounding scenery than can be obtained any 



16 



BOOK OF 



Directions to Travellers, 



where else, — you will proceed up to a beautiful cascade 
where, under the shelter in part of a projecting rock, 
you can have an opportunity to bathe in the sparkling 
foam of Niagara. 

" This is the purest exercise of health, 
The kind refresher of the suinmer heats." 

A rustic bridge was here to give you access to the 
Moss islands, which are well worthy a visit. Just above 
these islands you have the very best view of the rapids, 
that is presented from any place about the falls. Pro- 
ceeding round the head of the island, you cross the place 
nearly opposite the saw-mill, where a number of human 
skeletons have been dug up, — supposed to be the former 
site of an Indian burying ground. 

if your visit is protracted at the Falls, you should 
pass around and through Goat Island by the different 
paths in order to observe its picturesque beauty and 
realize its thousand attractions. You ought also, if 
time permit, to visit the site of old Fort Schlosser, the 
Mineral Spring, the Whirlpool, the Devil's Hole, &c., 
to all which places the coach drivers will conduct you, 
and give such information and directions as you may 
need. 

In order to cross the river, proceed from the bridge to 
the stair-case, near the edge of the falls, at the foot of 



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THE FALLS. 



17 






Directions to Travellers. 



which you will have a very near view of the highest fall 
and a most charming prospect of the entire falls. 

" Above, around, beneath, amazement all ! 
Terror and glory joined in their extremes !" 

Take a look from the window of the stair-case and you 
will realize the truth of Shakspeare's description, — 

" How fearful 
And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low ! 

I'll look no more, 
Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight 
Topple down headlong." 

In crossing the river, not the least danger need be 
apprehended ; it is a perfectly safe and most delightful 
excursion, and persons sometimes swim across without 
difficulty. I'he time occupied in crossing is ordinarily 
about eight minutes, and the ferriage is 18 f cents, from 
May to November; and 25 cents from November to May. 
If you have trunks or other baggage to be transported 
from either side to the other, the ferryman will convey 
them safely, at a reasonable charge. The river is here 
76 rods wide, and 350 feet deep. 

Having crossed the river, you proceed up the bank by 

a carriage road, at the head of which stands the Clifton 

House: here you can refresh yourself, and proceed to- 

2*^ 



16 



BOOK OF 



Directions to Travellers. 



\rards the Table Rock ; about half way between the 
Hotel and Table Rock, stands the very interesting Mu- 
seum of Mr. Barnett, which visiters should by no means 
fail to vibit. This gentleman, (Mr. Barnett) has spent 
years in the collection of his musuem, and an examina- 
tion of its contents will amply prove that the time has 
not been spent uselessly. A more extended notice of 
this museum will be found at page 48. Proceed from the 
museum to Table Rock, where you will find a spiral 
stair-case, from the foot of which you can pass 153 feet 
behind the sheet of water. This stair-case is under the 
care of Mr. Starkey, who furnishes dresses and a guide 
for visiters who wish to go behind the sheet; he also 
keeps a reading-room, and a neat and inviting shop of 
refreshments. An examination of the Albums in the 
establishment of Mr. Starkey, will be found amusing, 
as well as interesting. 

From Table Rock you have one broad and imposing 
view of the whole falls, and much of the scenery of 
the rapids and islands. It is generally conceded that 
this view, and that from the Terrapin Bridge, are the 
best, and combine more of the beautiful and sublime, 
than can be obtained from any other point on either side 
of the river. 

In ascending the bank from Table Rock to the Hotels, 
you have a fine and extensive view of the surrounding 



THE FALLS. 



19 



Niagara River. . .Its Sources. 



country, and can visit Lundy*s Lane, Brock's Monu- 
ment, &c., as you may have leisure or inclination. 

If you arrive first on the Canada side, proceed directly 
to Table Rock, and when satisfied with viewing the 
amazing scene there, both from above and below, and 
have visited all the other objects of interest, follow the 
path to the Ferry, cross to the other side, and then visit 
Goat Island, as directed above. 

To those who wish the services of a living guide in 
their rambles and excursions, Mr. S. Hooker, on the 
American side, offers himself; his house is near the Eagle 
Hotel. From a residence of twenty-two years at the 
Falls, he is enabled to conduct visiters to all the objects 
of interest, in the vicinity, and to give them much val- 
uable information. 



NIAGARA RIVER, ITS SOURCES, AND ISJ^ANDS. 



Niagara ilver, upon which the falls are situated, re- 
ceives the water of all the upper lakes, as Erie, St. Clair, 
Huron, Michigan, Superior, and a number of smaller 
ones. The most distant source of the Niagara is pro- 
bably the river St. Louis, which rises 1250 miles north- 
west of the Falls, and 150 miles west of Lake Superior ; 



20 



BOOK OF 



Niagara River ... Its Sources. 



f^ 



it is 1200 feet above the level of the ocean, and falls 
551 feet before it reaches the lake. 

Lake Superior is 459 miles long, by 100 wide, and 900 
feet deep: it is discharged into Lake Huron by the Strait 
St. Mary, 60 miles in length, making a descent of 45 
feet. This lake receives the waters of about forty rivers. 
Lake Michigan is 300 miles by 50, and about 900 feet 
deep, and empties into Huron, through the Straits of 
Mackinac, 40 miles in length. Connected with Michigan 
on the southwest side, is Green Bay, 100 miles in length 
by about 20 in width. Lake Huron is 218 miles by 180, 
and 900 feet deep, and is discharged into Lake Erie, 
through the rivers St. Clair and Detroit, 90 miles, ma- 
king a descent of 31 feet. Lake Erie is 290 miles by 
63, and 120 feet deep, and 564 feet above the level of the 
sea. It empties itself through Niagara river, 35 miles in 
length, into Lake Ontario, making a descent of 334 feet, 
viz: From the lake to Schlosser, 12 feet ; thence down 
the rapids, 52 feet ; the perpendicular falls, 164 feet ; 
from the falls to Lewiston, 104 feet ; and thence to 
Lake Ontario, 2 feet. 

Lake Ontario is 180 miles, by 31, and 500 feet deep, 
and discharges itself through the river St. Lawrence, 
into the Atlantic Ocean, 710 miles dlstrmt. 

The four inland seas above the falls — as the great 
lakes laay properly be called — with the hundreds of 



THE FALLS. 



tr 



Grand and Navy Island. 



rivers great and small, that flow into them, cover a 
surface of 150,000 square miles, and contain nearly 
half the fresh water on the surface of the globe. From 
these sources of the Niagara, some idea may be formed 
of the immense quantity of water, that is constantly 
pouring over the falls. 

Niagara river, as it flows from Lake Erie, is about 
three-fourths of a mile in width, and from twenty to 
forty feet deep ; for three miles it has a rapid current, 
and then it becomes calm and smooth till within one 
mile of the falls. 



" So calm ;— the waters scarcely seem to stray. 
And yet they glide like happiness away." 

Five miles from the lake the river begins to expand 
till it becomes more than eight miles in width, measured 
acroNs Grand Island, and embraces before it reaches the 
falls, about forty islands. Of these largest are Grand 
and Navy. Navy Island, belonging to Canada, con- 
tains 304 acres of good land, and terminates near Chip- 
pewa point. This Island has acquired some notoriety 
in consequence of being the resort, during the winter 
of 1837-8, of a large body of men, headed by William 
L. Mackenzie, .whose object was a revolution in the 
government of Upper Canada. Batteries were erected 
upon the island, and considerable powder was burned in 



22 



BOOK OP 



White Haven . , . Timber Company. 



exchanging compliments between the island and Chip- 
pewa; but as far as we have learned, but one man was 
ever killed on the island. It was finally evacuated some 
time in January, 1838, and has since remained quietly 
in the possession of the British Government. 

Grand Island commences five miles from the lake, is 
twelve miles in length, measured around its edge, and 
from three to six in width, and terminates three miles 
above the Falls, containing 17,384 acres. The land is 
well timbered, rich and productive. As the deepest 
channel of the river, forming the boundary line, runs on 
the west side, this island, until recently, belonged to 
the State of New- York ; but in the year 1633, a com- 
pany from Boston, purchased nearly the whole of the 
island, and have erected upon it, near the site of the 
famous Jewish city, Arrarat, (projected in 1825, by 
Major Noah, of New- York,) a steam grist mill, and a 
saw-mill, 150 feet square, containing 15 sets or gangs of 
saws. This mill is intended to furnish ship stuff of 
every description, from 20 to 70 feet in length, and is 
probably one of the most extensive establishments of its 
kind in America. The name of their village is ** White 
Haven," situated nearly opposite Tonawanda, where 
the Erie Canal locks into the Niagara river. It is ap- 
proached by a ferry across the river, here 100 rods wide, 
and has increased, since Nov. 1833, from one solitary 



THE FALLS. 



Other Islands . . . The rise and fall of Niagara. 

family to more than fifty ; it has also many work-shops, 
a store* a school-house, a commodious wharf, several 
hundred feet long, and a spacious dock made of piles, 
for storing and securing floating timber. 

In July, 1759, during the old French war, two large 
French vessels, in danger of being taken by the British, 
were burnt and sunk in what is called Burnt Ship Bay, 
near the lower end of this island. Some parts of them 
are still visible ; and some years since, a party of men, 
by raking the river at that place, secured a number of 
tons of iron. 

Among the other islands of the river^ are Bird Island, 
between Buifalo and Fort Erie; Squaw Island, contain- 
ing 131 acres, opposite Black Rock ; Strawberry Islan^^, 
containing about 100 acres ; Beaver Island, of 30 acred; 
Rattle Snake Island, of 48 acres ; Tonawanda Island, 
on which is the beautiful mansion of Stephen White, 
Esq., containing 69 acres; Cayuga Island, near the New 
York shore, four miles above the Falls, containing about 
100 acres ; Buck Horn Island, near the lower end of 
Grand and near Navy Islands, containing 146 acres; 
and a number of smaller islands, in and immediately 
above the rapids, besides Goat Island, &c., hereafter to 
be diescribed. 

One feature in the Niagara river somewhat peculiar is, 
V that neither the snows of winter, nor the evaporation of 



m 



BOOK OF 



The Rapids. 



summer, neither rains nor drought, materially affect it ; 
its waters flow on, full and clear, perpetually the same ; 
except, as has long been observed, they have a small 
gradual rise and fall about once in seven years. The 
cause of this is unknown, but is undoubtedly to be sought 
in something affecting the upper lakes. Indeed, it has 
often been asserted by travellers, that the lakes have 
septennial fluxes and refluxes; it is also asserted by some 
that they have small diurnal tides. This however, may 
reasonably be doubted. 



THE RAPIDS. 



I must here apprize the reader, that it were vain to 
attempt a graphic description of the falls and surroun- 
ding scenery ; for they so immeasurably exceed every 
thing of the kind elsewhere seen or even imagined, that 
no power of language can give any adequate idea of them 
to those who have not been present to hear and see for 
themsolves. Captain Basil Hall remarks, ** All parts of 
the Niagara are on a scale which baffles every attempt 
of the imagination, and it were ridiculous therefore, to 
think of describing it; the ordinary means of description, 
I mean analogy, and direct comparison, with things 



THE FALLS. 



25 



The Rapids. 



which are more accessible, fHil entirely in the case of 
that amazing cataract, which is altogether unique." 

** All the pictures you may see," says J. J. Audubon, 
** all the descriptions you may read, of these mighty 
falls, can only produce in your mind the faint glimmer 
of the glow worm, compared with the overpowering 
glory of the meridian sun." 

These scenes which are sketched in the following 
pages, may be considered, therefore, only as a very faint 
outline, or shadow, of the reality. 

Below the termination of Grand and Navy Islands, 
the river is compressed to the width of two and a half 
miles ; and pressing forward with accelerated motion, 
it commences, about three-fourths of a mile above the 
falls, a rapid descent, making within that distance a 
slope or succession of chutes^ amounting to fifly-two feet 
on the American side, and fifty- seven on the other. — 
The tremendous and beautiful rapids thus formed, 
constitute a very important part of the grand and un« 
paralleled curiosities of this river. Were they in any 
other place, they would of themselves be considered as 
a scene of great beauty and sublimity, equalled only by 
the ocean when lashed into foam and fury by the angry 
tempest. Many visiters express themselves more de- 
lighted, and unexpectedly filled with wonder, at seeing 

the rapids, than the falls themselves. 

3 



26 



BOOK OF 



The Rapids . . . Roar of the Falli. 



** Through sparkling spray in thundering clash, 
The lightning of the water flash, 
In awful whiteness o'er the shore, 
That shines and shakes beneath the roar." 

Two miles above the falls, in approaching from Buf- 
falo, you come in sight of the white crested breakers, 
more than a mile in width, dashing, foaming, and tossing 
from ten to thirty feet above the main current : and at 
the same time hear a low, monotonous, tremendous roar; 
and as you approach nearer, feel a tremulous motion of 
the earth. The distance at which this roar can be heard 
varies, with the state of the atmosphere, ordinarily from 
live to twenty miles, though it is said to have been heard 
at Toronto, forty-five miles distant. And yet in the 
village near the falls, it is scarcely heard at all. The 
mist, arising like curling smoke, and separating as it 
rises into masses of fantastic clouds is seen at the dis- 
tance of from three to twenty miles. This distance de- 
pends upon the state of the atmosphere, the height of 
the sun, and the force and direction of the wind. This 
mist sometimes rises in immense masses, and sometimes 
in a pyramidial shape to a very great height, and is an 
object of great curiosity, especially in the morning, soon 
after sunrise. It then sparkles like diamonds, and be- 
comes illuminated with the most brilliant, prismatic 
colors. 



THE FALLS. 



27 



Table Rock 



" Niagara I Niagara I I hear 
Thy tumbling waters. And I see thee rear 
Thy thundering sceptre to the clouded skies ; 
I see it wave— I hear the ocean rise, 
And roll obedient to thy call. I hear 
The tempest-hymning of thy flood in fear ; 
The quaking mountains and the nodding trees — 
The reeling birds — and the careering breeze — 
The tottering hills, unsteadied in thy roar *, 
Niagara ! as thy dark waters pour. 
One everlasting earthquake rocks thy lofty shore." 

From Table Rock, jou have an extensive and pic- 
turesque view of the rapids ; but they are seen to still 
better advantage from the bank of the river, half a mile 
above. They are also to be seen to very great advan- 
tage from the different sides of Goat Island. Indeed, 
the great variety of views of the rapids to be obtained 
from the island, renders it the most eligible place for 
viewing them. From the southwest corner of this island, 
just above the Moss islands, you have by far the best 
view that can be taken from any place. There is too, 
an amazing rush of water between the Moss islands, the 
force and sublimity of which may be conceived, but not 
described ; and no tourist or traveller, who desires to 
behold one of the most wild and fantastic scenes in 
the vicinity of the great falls, should fail to visit this 
beautiful and interesting spot. 



!J8 



BOOK OP 



Goat Island. 



OOAT. OR IRIS ISLAND. 



Goat Island, is so called, from the circumstance, that 
about the year 1770, Mr. Steadman, then resident at 
Schlosser, contrived by some means to put a few goats 
upon the island ; but its more appropriate and adopted 
name is Iris Island. It commences near the head of the 
rapids, almost in the middle of the river, and extends to 
the precipice, dividing the falls into two sheets. It is 
half a mile in length, and one fourth of a mile in width, 
and contains seventy-five acres of rich and heavy tim- 
bered land. Situated in the midst of the rapids, and 
surrounded by them on three sides, this island is one of 
the most beautiful, fascinating and romantic places in 
the world; it affords a delightful retreat for *'the lunatic, 
the lover, and the poet," to indulge in their meditations. 
Fanned by gentle breezes, thickly and delightfully sha- 
ded, free from noisome insects, encircled by a neat 
walk, and presenting to the visiter a great variety of 
views of the falls and rapids, he feels a reluctance on 
leaving it, and is wont to exclaim with Montgomery, 

" If God batli made this world so fair, 
Where sin and death abound ; 
How beautiful, beyond compare, 
Will Paradise be found !" 



^ 



THE FALLS. 



29 



Scenery . . . Earliest Dates . . . Indian Remains. 
Or with Eve, in the language of Milton, — 

" Must I leave thee, Paradise ? 
■ These happy walks and shades, 

Fit haunt of Gods 7" 



About two-thirds of this island are still covered with 
tall trees, many of which are clothed with a magnificent 
drapery of ivy and other creeping plants, and many have 
been killed by reason of the countless names that have 
been cut into their bark. So strong is the desire of man 
for immortality, that few can resist the temptation to 
leave some memorial of their visit to the Falls. The 
earliest genuine date of any name yet found, is in the 
year 1769, though names have been cut within a few 
years, and dated back as early as 1745 ; but on the rocks 
near the falls on the American side, there are names 
chiselled out and dated 1711, 1726, 1745, &c. On Goat 
Island, a number of human skeletons have, within a few 
years, been dug up ; supposed to be the remains of In- 
dians buried in a former age, and many more are doubt- 
less noVv resting there in undisturbed repose. There 
may they rest, in nature's solitude, till the Great Spirit 
calls them hence. On this island is found a very great 
variety of wild plants, shrubs and flowers ; nearly two 
hundred different species, some of them very rare, have 

already been discovered. Of the Tillium Grandifloraf 

3* 



BOOK OF 



Garden. 



£ 



sixteen varieties are found here. The seeds of plants 
and flowers, from the shores of all the upper lakes and 
rivers, have probably been washed upon this island. — 
Some years since, a number of deer were put upon this 
island, which soon became quite tame ; but visiters, in 
order to see them leap, would occasionally frighten them, 
when they would immediately betake themselves to the 
rapids, and thus were carried over the falls, until all 
were finally destroyed. 

Judge Porter, the proprietor of the island, has had it 
in contemplation to lay out upon it a spacious Garden, 
in which all the plants and fruits adapted to this genial 
climate, should be cultivated. When this and other 
projected improvements shall be completed, no other 
spot on this earth, perhaps, will present attractions equal 
to this celebrated and beautiful island. The approach 
to it is from the American side, by means of a bridge 
of the most difHcult and hazardous construction, which 
extends from the shore, 28 rods, to Bath Island, and 
thence 16 rods further, to Goat Island. 

There are many other beautiful islands situated among 
the rapids of this river, a number of which, as Bath, 
Ship, and Luna are, and all the rest might be, connected 
with Goat Island by bridges, and afford the most charm- 
ing and impressive views of the surrounding scenery. 
On Bath Island, which is 24 rods in length, containing 



f plants 
ikes and 
island. — 
pon this 
siters, in 
en them, 
es to the 
until all 

ELS had it 
Garden, 
lis genial 
nd other 
no other 
ons equal 
approach 
' a bridge 
)n, which 
land, and 

ed among 
as Bath, 
connected 
»st charm- 
r scenery, 
containing 




V 



I* , 



THE PALLS. 



31 



Toll House . . . Centre Fall. 



* , 



about two acres, is the Toll House, kept by Mr. A. B. 
Jacobs, who keeps an excellent house of refreshment, 
and has for sale one of the best collection of Indian 
curiosities, geological specimens, walking canes, &c. &c. 
which are to be found at the Falls. 

On this island is situated Porter's extensive Paper Mill, 
three stories high, where is manufactured yearly large 
quantities of paper. The paper on which this work is 
printed, was manufactured at this mill. 

Luna Island, about 30 yards in width, stands directly 
on the precipice near Goat Island, and divides the stream, 
a part of which forms the most splendid cascade, perhaps 
in the world. This is about twenty-two yards in width, 
and is sometimes called the «* Centre Fall," to distin- 
guish it from the other two main sheets. Approaching 
this island from the foot of what is called, from the shape 
of the path, the " Hog's Back," visiters have, from the 
northwest corner, a much better view of the American 
fall than can be obtained from any other place. This 
fall, like the other, has evidently changed its shape 
within a few years, and has now nearly as much of a 
resemblance to a horse shoe as the other. 

There are ten other islands in the rapids besides those 
above mentioned, containing perhaps from one-fourth to 
an acre each, to all of which bridges might, probably, be 
constructed. 



32 



BOOK OF 



I 



Terrapin Bridge and Tower . . . Height of the Falls. 



THE FALLS — TERRAPIN BRIDGE AND TOWER. 

,,,,, , - , , . .^ „....., ,.,, ^ . , ^ ^ ^^ ,, , , 

The broad river, as it comes thundering and foaming 
down the declivity of the rapids, at length leaps the 
cataract, three-fourths of a mile in width, and falls, as 
it were, to the central caves of the earth. The mind, 
filled with amazement, recoils at the spectacle, and loses 
for a moment, its equilibrium. The trembling of the 
earth, the mighty rush and conflict, and deafening roar 
of the water, the clouds of mist sparkling with rainbows, 
produce an effect upon the beholder, often quite over- 
powering ; and it is only after the scene has become 
somewhat familiar to the eye, the ear, and the imagina- 
tion, that its real grandeur and sublimity is properly 
realized and felt. 

*' To sit on rocks, to muse on flood and field, 

To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, • 

Where things that own not man'E> dominion dwell, 

And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been. 

* * * t- + jf - .. 

Alone o'er steps and foaming falls to lean ; ^ 

This is not solitude', 'tis but to hold 
Converse with nature's charms, and see her stores unrolled." 

The water on the American side, as ascertained by 
frequent measurement, falls 164 feet, and on the Canada 



i<Ui]tMii '* I wi'imiiiiiii iii'M""!""" 




1 



I 



i 



s 






fvi 



1 



THE FALLS. 



33 



'Si 

I 






S 



CN 



Tower and Bridge . . . Solar Bow. 



fiide, 158 feet. The fall on the Canada side, embracing 
much the largest channel of the river, is called, from the 
shape of the precipice, the *^ Crescent, or Horse Shoe 
Fall," and near to this a bridge, called the Terrapin 
Bridge, has been constructed, 300 feet in length, from 
Goat Island, and projecting ten feet over the falls. Near 
the termination of this bridge, in the water, and on the 
very verge of the precipice, a stone tower, forty-five feet 
high, with winding steps to the top, was erected in the 
year 1833, from which, or from the end of the bridge, 
the effect of the falls upon the beholder is most awfully 
sublime, and utterly indescribable. The sublime, arising 
from obscurity, is here experienced in its greatest force. 
The eye, unable to discover the bottom of the falls, or 
even to penetrate the mist that seems to hang as a veil 
over the amazing and terrific scene, gives place to the 
imagination, and the mind is instinctively elevated and 
filled with majestic dread. Here is 



(i 



All that expands, yet appals." 



«( 



And such was that rainbow, that beautiful one, 
"Whose arch was refraction, its key-stone — the sun ; 
A pavilion it seemed with a Deity graced, 
And justice and mercy met there and embraced." 



The solar and lunar bows, the river above and below, 
and indeed the whole scenery of the falls and rapids, 



34 



BOOK OP 



Tower and Bridge. 



appear to better advantage from this point than from 
any other; and no visiter on either side should presume 
to leave the Falls without visiting the tower and bridge. 
From the top of the tower especially, he will realize the 
force and beauty of the following description, which 
with the change of a single word, applies admirably to 
this matchless scene : 

" The roar of waters ! From the headlong height 
Niagara cleaves the wave-worn precipice ; 

' The fall of waters! rapid as the light, 
The flashing mass foams shaking the abyss ; -> ^, '> 

The hell of waters ! where they howl and hiss, 
And boil in endless torture; while the sweit , j 
Of their great agony, wrung out from this 
Their Phlegethon, curls round the rocks of jet 
That gird the gulf around, in pitiless horror set. 

And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again 
Returns in an unceasing shower, which round 
With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain 
Is an eternal April to the ground. 
Making it all one emerald ; — how profound 
The gulf ! — and how the giant element 
From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound, 
Crushing the clifis, which downward worn and rent, 

With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent. 

* * » * >(• » 

* * * * Look back ! 
Lo ! where it comes like an eternity, 

As if to sweep down all things in its track, ' 



a 

V 

i] 



c 



THE FALLS. 



Lunar Bow . . . Romantic Incident. 



Charming the eye with dread, — a matchless cataract, 
> Horribly beautiful ! but on the verge, _ 

„ From side to side, beneath the glittering morn, 
An Iris sits, amid the infernal surge. 
Like Hope upon a death-bed, and, unworn 
It steady dies, while all around is torn 
By the distracted waters, bears serene 
Its brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn, 
Resembling, 'mid the torture of the scene. 
Love watching Madness with unalterable mien." 

The lunar bow, seen at night, in the time of full 
moon, appears like a brightly illuminated arch, reach- 
ing from side to side, and is an object of great attraction, 
— especially as the world presents but few other places 
where such a bow is ever seen, 

** Hung on the curling mist, the moonlight bow 
Arches the perilous river." 

Goat Island, in a moonlight night, is the resort of 
great multitudes, and is a scene of unrivalled beauty 
and magnificence. The rapids at such a time sparkle 
with phosphoric splendor, and nature around wears an 
irresistible charm of loveliness. There is 

" A silver light, which hallowing tree and tower. 
Sheds beauty nnd deep softness o'er the whole." 

The writer once had the pleasure of joining a lovely 
couple in marriage, about eleven o'clock on one of the 



■I 



36 



BOOK OF 



Biddle Stair -Case. 



brightest nights he has ever known, in full view of this 
enchanting scenes and then of taking a romantic excur« 
sion with the party around the island. This was poetry 
indeed ; it was one of those bright and verdant oases 
sometimes met with in the journey of life. 



BIDDLE STAIR-CASE ^OLUS CAVE. 



At the lower end of Goat Island, about one third 
across it, a stair-case, erected in the year 1829, at the 
expense of Nicholas Biddle, Esq., of Philadelphia, gives 
visiters an opportunity of descending below the bank, 
and of passing a considerable distance behind the two 
main sheets of water. The descent from the top of the 
island to the margin of the river, is 185 feet. A common 
flight of steps leads down 40 feet, to the perpendicular 
spiral steps, 90 in number, which are enclosed in a buil- 
ding in the shape of a hexagon resting on a firm foun- 
dation at the bottom. From the foot of the building, 
there are three paths leading to the most important 
points of observation, one of which leads to the river 
below, 80 feet, where visiters will And one of the finest 
fishing places in this part of the world. All the varie- 
ties of fish existing in Lake Ontario, are found here, 



n 
I 

t\ 
a: 



THE FALLS. 



87 



'■1 
'O 

le 
m 

ir 



Cave of the Winds . . Passage behind the Falls. 

among which are sturgeon, pike, pickereli black and 
white bass, herring, cat-fish, eels', &c. Here was Sam 
Patch's jumping place. The path at the left of the 
stair-case leads to the great Crescent fall, where, when 
the wind blows up the river, a safe and delightful pas- 
sage is opened behind the sheet of water. ^ 

The path to the right leads to a magnificent Cave, 
appropriately named when it was first discovered, twenty 
seven years since, ^olus* Cave, or Cave of the Winds. 
This cave is about 120 feet across, 50 feet wide, and 100 
feet high ; it is situated directly behind the Centre fall, 
which at the bottom i i more than 100 feet wide, and 
were the rocks excavated a little and a few steps made, 
visiters could safely pass into and entirely through the 
cave behind the sheet of water. Beyond this cave, at 
the foot of Luna Island, there is an open space where 
persons may amuse themselves at leisure upon the rocks 
over which the floods are pouring, and then venture in 
as far as they please behind the whole American fall. 

The writer of these pages first conceived the idea of 

effecting an entrance into this cave, July 14, 1834, while 

passing in front of the American fall in a boat, and the 

next day it was effected, for the first time, by Messrs. 

Berry H. White and George Sims, both residents at 

the Falls, who passed round the outside of the falls, 

and landed at the foot of Luna Island. Accompanying 

4 



S8 



BOOK OP 



Passage behind the Falls . . . Rainbow. 






the above idea, was a project of passing behind the 
whole American fall, 56 rods, and coming out near the 
ferry. This passage, though not yet effected, is be- 
lieved to be possible ; for the opening between the sheet 
of water as it falls, and the rock behind is from 15 to 50 
feet wide, and there are rocks to walk upon through the 
whole distance. If there be any insurmountable obsta- 
cle, it will probably be found in the tremendous wind 
and spray occasioned by the falling flood. A passage 
into the cave was at first considered a great exploit, 
but a passage behind the whole sheet would be incon- 
cievably greater. The cave itself, is the ne plus ultra of 
wonders, a visit to which no person of sufficient nerve, 
ought to omit. Ladies and gentlemen can very often, 
when the wind blows down the river, pass a considerable 
distance behind the sheet of water within the cave, 
without getting wet at all. The view presented to a 
person while in the cave, in connexion with the tremen- 
dous and astounding roar of waters, which, owing to the 
echoes or reverberations, is apparently a hundred times 
greater here than any where else, will enable him to 
appreciate the following beautiful and graphic lines of 
Brainard, — especially as there is always, in the af- 
ternoon, when the sun shines, a very bright rain-bow 
visible directly within the cave, and behind the sheet 
of water. 



THE FALLS. 



39 



Extract from Brainard. 



*' The thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain, 
While I look upwards to thee. It would seem 
As if God poured thee from his hollow hand, 
And hung his bow upon thy awful front, 
And spoke in that loud voice, which seemed to him 
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Saviour's sake, 
* The sound of many waters ;' and had bade 
Thy flood to chronicle the ages back. 
And notch His centuries in the eternal rocks. 

Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we, 
That hear the question of that voice sublime ? 
Oh I what are the notes that ever rung 
From war's vain trumpet by thy thundering side ? 
Yea, what is all the riot man can make 
In his short life, to thy unceasing roar 1 
And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him 
Who drowned a world, and heaped the waters far 
Above its loftiest mountains ? — a light wave, 
That breaks and whispers of its Maker's might." 

How little and insignificant do the efforts of man ap- 
pear, when measured by this exhibition of Omnipotence! 
The earthquake, the volcano, the wide spread conflagra- 
tion, the shock of contending armies, are sublime and 
terrific spectacles, though short in their continuance and 
limited in their effects ; but here, ever since the flood, 
probably, the deafening and incessant roar of the migh- 
tiest cataract on the globe has called upon the children 
of men to fall down and adore their Maker. 



] 



40 



BOOK OF 



Ferry to the Canada Falls. 



THE FERRY. 

There is another stair-case leading down the bank, 
about six rods below the falls, where yisiters will find a 
safe ferry to the Canada side, and have an opportunity 
of viewing a scene of surpassing grandeur. The deep 
green glassy river beneath, the awful precipice of rocks, 
and the mighty floods rolling and tumbling from the 
heights above, and the singularly wild, romantic and 
variegated scenery around, fill the mind of the beholder 
with sensations not to be described. Here one may 
perceive the propriety and beauty of the figure repre- 
senting Him, who is the *^ Rock of ages," as *< the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land," to those who 
fly to him for refuge. 

"While vie^ ring thee 
I think how grand and beautiful is God, 
When man has not intruded on his works, 
But left his bright creation unimpaired. 

Blessed scenes ! 
* * * it is no mortal touch 

That sharpened thy rough brow, or fringed thy skirts 
With coarse luxuriance ; — 'twas the lightning's force 
Dashed its strong flash across thee, and did point 
The crag *, or, with his stormy thunderbolt, 
The Almighty Architect himself disjoined 
Yon rock •, then flung it down where now it hangs. 
And said, do thou lie there." 



THE FALLS. 



41 



City of the Falls. 



The ferryman, Mr. S. L. Ware, on the American, 
and Mr. J. Shultersburgh, on the Canada side, are both 
very civil and accommodating, well acquainted with their 
business, and able to g ve much information to visiters. 
Whenever required, they take parties out on pleasure or 
fishing excursions, and thus enable them to take'a more 
extensive view of the gorgeous river scenery. The 
construction of a carriage road is contemplated, down 
these perpendicular banks, so as to have a ferry for 
teams and carriages ; and when it is completed, must 
become a great and important thoroughfare for travellers. 



CANADA VIEWS — CITY OF THE' FALLS. 



Directly opposite the Falls on the Canada side, an 
enterprising Company, a few years since, purchased the 
grounds formerly owned by Mr. Forsyth, projected and 
laid out a city, which they called ** The City of the 
Falls," and have made some improvements. They in- 
tended to have schools, churches, libraries, ball and 
promenade rooms, baths, public gardens, and indeed, 
every thing considered necessary to an elegant and fash- 
ionable city. The lots and streets are laid out with 



I ' ' 
111 I 



1 I 



42 



BOOK OF 



Clifton . . . New Hotel. 



/ 



much judgment and taste ; but whether the anticipa- 
tions of the enterprising projectors will ever be realized, 
other generations must tell. 

The table land on the river's bank below the falls, 
and opposite the ferry, owned by Capt. Creighton, has 
also been surveyed into lots for a village, which is called 
** Clifton ;" and here, directly at the top of the ferry 
road, stands the Clifton House, erected by Mr. Chrysler, 
which contains upwards of sixty rooms, and will -ac- 
commodate nearly one hundred guests. This is a very 
delightful site for a village, and is one of the most 
pleasant places of resort on that side of the river. The 
following stanza of Byron, is beautifully descriptive of 
this place : 



" From thy shady brow, 

Thou small, but favored spot of holy ground ! 
"Where'er we gaze, around, above, below, 

What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found ! 
Rock, river, forest, mountain all abound, 

And bluest skies that harmonize the whole ; 
Beneath, the distant torrent's rushing sound 

Tells where the volumed cataract doth roll 
Between those hanging rocks, that shock yet please the soul." 



In ascending the high bank, the visiter is presented 
with some delightful viewti of the falls and rapids, and 
of the surrounding country. The two principal Hotels, 



THE FALLS. 



43 



Appearance of the surrounding country. 



on the Canada side, are the Ontario House, on the 
high bank nearly opposite the great fall, and the Cliflon 
House, at the head of the carriage road, both of which 
have ample accommodations. The Pavilion was totally 
destroyed by fire, in February, 1839. 

Strangers who have never visited the Falls, have an 
idea that the surrounding country must be mountainous^ 
like that in the vicinity of most other falls; but the gen- 
eral aspect of the country here for a great extent on both 
sides of the river, above and below, is that of an almost 
perfect level, and nothing indicates the existence of the 
river or the falls, except the constantly ascending and 
floating mist, and a subterraneous, thundering roar. 
Below the falls, the earth and rocks appear as though 
they had been suddenly rent asunder and separated one- 
fourth of a mile apart, in order, by the perpendicular 
chasm thus made, to form a channel for the river. The 
corresponding portions of rock are as regular in the suc- 
cession of their strata, as would be the leaves and cover 
of a book, if they were bisected and placed opposite each 
other. The whole country in Canada, between the two 
lakes, except a narrow strip bordering upon Lake Onta- 
rio, is generally level, rich and productive, and is also 
becoming quite populous. In visiting the Canada side, 
you can cross the river at Black Rock, Lewiston, or at 
the Falls; and can always have carriages on that side to 



I. 
I 



1 1 



44 



BOOK OP 



Welland Canal. 



transport you whither you choose. Stage Coaches run 
from the Hotels to Queenston and Niagara, daily ; also 
to Chippewa and Buffalo. From Chippewa, the steam- 
hoat Red Jacket runs daily to Buffalo, leaving Chippewa 
in the afternoon. No one should fail of visiting the 
Canada side, as this grand and unparalleled scene of 
nature's wonders, the fame whereof is spread over the 
world, should be viewed and contemplated from every 
position. 



WELLAND CANAL. 

Eight miles west from the Falls is the Welland Canal, 
connecting the waters of Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, 
and affording a passage for sloops and schooners of 125 
tons burthen. This canal commences at Fort Maitland, 
near the mouth of Grand River, on I^ake Erie, 48 miles 
west of Buffalo. It runs in a straight line across Wain- 
fleet Marsh, crosses the Chippewa river by means of an 
aqueduct, and enters Lake Ontario at the mouth of the 
Twelve Mile Creek. It is 42 miles in length, 56 feet in 
width, and varies from 8^ to 16 feet in depth. The 
whole descent from one lake to another, 334 feet, is ac- 





1 




/ 

/ 
/ . 


• 

9s nin 




; also 
iteam- 




ppewa 
ig the 
ene of 




er the 




every 


• 


Canal, 




itario, 




of 125 




itland, 




I miles 




Wain- 




of an 




of the 




'eet in 




The 


■ 


isac- 


f 



Ui' 




. V 



■V. 

I: 



mm 

\ 












1 



i 



Ui i JUM II 



THE PALLS. 



45 



Brock's Monument. 



It 






I 



mm 



V 



complished by means of 37 locks. At the deep-cut, on 
what is called the mountain ridge, the excavation is 45 
feet in depth ; and 1,477,700 cubic feet of earth, and 
1,890,000 cubic feet of rock were removed. The locks 
here are 22 by 100 feet, and v/est of this ridge they are 
45 by 125 feet. The canal was commenced in the year 
1824, and completed in five years, and cost over $1,000,- 
000. A part of the stock is owned by individuals in the 
State of New-York. The company own all the land 
along the line of the canal, including the hydraulic 
pri'^leges ; and another tract, containing about 16,000 
acres, has been granted to them by the British Govern- 
ment. 



I 









brock's monument. 

Six miles and a half north from the Falls, upon 
Queenfiton Heights, is General Brock's Monument, 
constructed of free stone, 126 feet high, and admitting 
an ascent to the top by a flight of 170 winding steps. 
From this eminence, the country around, including the 
picturesque lake and river scenery, may be seen for fifty 
miles. The following is the inscription on this Monu- 
ment ; 



46 



BOOK OP 



Burning Spring. 



** The Legislature of Upper Canada has dedicated 
this Monument to the many civil and military services 
of the late Sir James Brock, Knight, Commander of the 
most Honorable Order of the Bath, Provincial Lieuten- 
ant Governor and Major General, Commanding His 
Majesty's forces therein. He fell in action, on the 13th 
of Oct., 1812, honored and beloved by those whom he 
governed, and deplored by his Sovereign, to whose ser- 
vices his life had been devoted. His remains are depo- 
sited in this vault, as also his Aid-de-Camp, Lieutenant 
Colonel John McDonald, who died of his wounds the 
14th of Oct., 1812, received the day before, in action.'* 



BURNING SPRING. 

One mile above the Falls, near the rapids, on the 
Canada side, is the Burning Spring. This is in a 
state of constant ebullition, and from it issues a stream 
of sulphurated hydrogen gas, which quickly ignites on 
the touch of a candle, and burns with a brilliant flame. 
The spring is enclosed in a barrel, which collects the 
gas and lets it through a tube inserted at the top. This 
gas might, without doubt, be communicated by pipes to 



-g ji gftia j jj w ; 



THE FALLS. 



47 



Stair - Case. 



neighboring buildings, and substituted for candles and 
lamps. The keeper of the spring, Mr. J. Conklin, ex- 
pects a small fee from visiters, for his trouble. There 
are strong indications at this Spring of a bed of coal 
near, but no effort has yet been made to discover it. 



STAIR -CASE. 

At the falls, near Table Rock, is a spiral stair-case, 
constructed for the purpose of enabling visiters to de- 
scend and pass behind the sheet of water, to Termina- 
tion Rock. The entrance behind the great sheet looks 
somewhat formidable, and sometimes deters visiters 
from making the attempt, but when it is accomplished, 
which is frequently done by ladies, the views behind this 
Immense sheet are awfully sublime and terrific, and will 
fully repay the adventurous lover of the wonderful in 
nature, for the thorough drenching which he will receive 
and which constitutes all the danger of the attempt. 

Mr. Starkey, who keeps an excellent house of refresh- 
ment, and a cabinet of minerals here, is very accommo- 
dating to visiters, and when desired, furnishes them 
with a dress and guide to facilitate their passage behind 
the falls. This place is extensively known, and much 
frequented. 



48 



BOOK OP 



i!l 



Museum. 



MUSEUM, 



A few rods from this stair-case, and very beautifully 
situated, is Mr. Barnett's Museum of natural and arti- 
ficial curiosities ; — an establishment well worthy of 
patronage. The rooms are arranged very tastefully, so 
as to represent a forest scene, and contains upwards of 
5000 specimens of various kinds and descriptions. There 
are bipeds and quadrupeds; birds, fishes, insects, reptiles, 
shells, minerals and Indian curiosities ; all calculated to 
delight the eye, improve the understanding, and mend 
the heart. Of the birds, beasts, fishes, and insects, 
several hundred species were caught in the vicinity of 
the Falls. The noblest eagles of the land delight to 
hover around the falls ; and here they are frequently 
killed, stuffed, and offered for sale. A large collec- 
tion of living rattle-snakes may also be seen here. Mr. 
Barnett also keeps an excellent house of refreshment, 
and a large assortment of Indian curiosities and geolo- 
gical specimens for sale, and is very polite and attentive 
to visiters. 

One of the very best general views of the falls, is to 
be obtained from the piazzas of this museum, and a view 
through a prism, which is kept there, is extremely beau- 
tiful and interesting. 



THE FALLS. 



49 



Summer and Winter Scenery. 



SUMMER AND WINTER SCENERY. 

The surrounding scenery on both sides of the river is 
in good keeping with the magnificence of the falls. It 
is just what it should be, — grand, striking and unique. 
By most visiters it is only seen in summer. But in the 
winter it is also inimitable and indescribably beautiful. 
The trees and shrubbery on Goat and other islands, and 
on the banks of the river near the falls, are covered 
with transparent sleet, presenting an appearance of 
**icy brilliants," or rather of millions of glittering 
chandeliers of all-sizes and descriptions, and giving one 
a most vivid idea of fairy land. 

*' For every shrub and every blade of grass, 
And every pointed thorn seems wrought in glass-. 
The frighted birds the rattling branches shun, 
Which wave and glitter in the distant sun." 



The scene presents a splendid counterpart to Gold- 
smith's description of the subterranean grottos of Paros 
and Antiparos. The mist from the falls freezes upon 
the trees so gradually and to such thickness, that it often 
bears a most exact resemblance to alabaster; and this, 

5 



50 



BOOK OF 









■■ ! \ 



Winter Scenery. 



set off by the dazzling colors of the rainbows that arch 
the river from twenty different points, seems by natural 
association, to raise the imagination to that world, 
where the streets are of pure gold, the gates of pearl, 
and night is unknown. 

" Look, the massy trunks 
Are cased in the pure crystal ; branch and twig 
Shine in the lucid covering ; each light rod, 
Nodding and twinkling in the stirring breeze, 
Ib studded with its trembling water-drops, 
Still streaming, as they move, with colored light. 
But round the parent stem, the long, low boughs 
Bend in a glittering ring, or arbors hide 
The glassy floor. O ! you might deem the spot 
The spacious cavern of some virgin mine, 
Deep in the womb of earth, where the gems grow '. 
And diamonds put forth radiant rods, and bud 
With amethyst and topaz, and the place 
Lit up most royally with the pure beam 
That dwells in them •, or, haply, the vast hall 
Of fairy palace, that outlasts the night. 
And fades not in the glory of the sun ; 
Where crystal columns send forth slender shafts, 
And crossing arches, and fantagtic aisles 
Wind from the sight in brightness, and are lost 
Among the crowded pillars." 

The winter scenery about the falls is peculiar, a sight 
of which is worth a journey of thousands of miles. 



I 



\_ 



THE FALLS. 



Wild Ducks . . . Eagles. 



arch 
tural 
orld, 
)earl) 






sight 
niles. 



Myriads of wild ducks and geese spend the day in and 
above the rapids, and regularly take their departure for 
Lake Ontario every night before dark ; though sonie are 
often found in the morning with a broken leg or wing, 
and sometimes dead, in the river below the falls. This 
generally happens after a very dark or foggy night; and 
it is supposed that, as they always have their heads 
up stream, while in the water, they are carried down 
insensibly by the rapids, till they find themselves going 

or the precipice, and then in attempting to fly, they 
d:; e into the sheet of water, and are buried for a time 
under the falls, or dashed upon the rocks. 

Dead fish too, of almost all sizes and descriptions, and 
weighing from one to seventy pounds, are found floating 
in the eddies below the falls, forming a dainty repast for 
gulls, loons, hawks and eagles. The splendid gyrations 
of the gulls, and their fearless approaches, enveloped in 
clouds of mist, up to the boiling cauldron directly under 
the falls, attract much attention. But the eagle, fierce, 
daring, contemplative, and tyrannical, takes his stand 
upon the point of some projecting rock, or the dry limb 
of a gigantic tree, and watches with excited interest the 
movements of the whole feathered tribes below. Stand- 
ing there in lordly pride and dignity, in an instant his 
eye kindles and his ardor rises as he sees the fish-hawk 
emerge from the deep, screaming with exultation at his 









BOOK OP 



River below the Falls. 



success. He darts forth like lightning, and gives furious 
chase. The hawk, perceiving his danger, utters a scream 
of despair and drops his fish; and the eagle instantly 
seizes the fish in the air, and bears his ill-gotten booty 
to his lofty eyrie. 

Sometimes during a part of the winter, the ice is 
driven by the wind from Lake Erie, and poured over the 
falls in such immense quantities as to fill and block up 
the river between the banks, for a mile or more, to the 
depth of from thirty to fifty feet, so that people cross 
the ice to Canada, on foot, for weeks together: the 
river itself is never frozen over, either above or below 
the falls, but it affords an outlet for vast quantities of 
ice from the upper lakes. 



RIVER BELOW THE PALLS. 

The river at the falls, is a little over three-fourths of 
a mile in width, but below, it is immediately compressed 
into a narrow channel of less than one-fourth of a mile 
in width: its depth, as ascertained by sounding, is about 
250 feet. Its color is deep green, and sometimes blue; 
occasioned, no doubt, by reflection from the sky. 



THE FALLS. 



53 



Point View . . . Channel . . . Earliest Discoveries. 

One of the best general views of the fallu and river 
below, is from a projecting rock, about a mile below the 
village, sometimes called Point View. The perpendi- 
cular rock is here 200 feet above the river, and from the 
verge of the dizzy height is to be obtained the most 
complete and extensive view of the Entire falls, the river 
below, and its rocky and precipitous banks, that can be 
obtained from any other position. 

For about two miles below the falls, the river is com- 
paratively smooth; it then runs with amazing velocity to 
Lewiston; and, what is remarkable, while the river makes 
a constant descent, the banks have a gradual ascent for 6 
miles; so that from the top of the bank to the water, at 
Brock's Monument, near Queenston, is 370 feet; and the 
heights there are 38 feet higher than Lake Erie, and 25 
feet higher than the land at Schlosser. Whether the 
bed of the river here was once a natural ravine, or was 
formed by an earthquake, or worn away by the continued 
and violent action of the water falling upon the rocks — 
thus carrying the falls back from Queenston to their 
present situation, it would be difficult to determine with 
certainty. 

From descriptions of the falls written nearly two 
hundred years ago, we learn, that though their shape 
has been somewhat altered since, they then occupied 
the place which they hold now, and exhibited the same 

5* 



i 



.MHWLlJ^JAIW ... 






m 



BOOK OF 



Remarks of Hennepin, Tonti, Hontan, etc. 

wonderful phenomena. When and by whom among the 
whites they were first discovered, the writer has never 
yet been able to ascertain. Tradition ascribes their dis- 
covery to two missionaries, who were on an exploring 
tour to this part of the country, in an age anterior to 
any written account extant. 



REMARKS OP HENNEPIN, TONTI, HONTAN, ETC. 

Father Hennepin, who visited this place in December, 
1678, thus describes the falls : << Betwixt the Lakes 
Ontario and Erie, there is a vast and prodigious cadence 
of water, which falls down after a surprising and asto- 
nishing manner, insomuch that the universe does not 
afford its parallel. 'Tis true, Italy and Suedeland boast 
of some such things, but we may well say that they are 
but sorry patterns, when compared with this of which 
we now speak. At the foot of this horrible precipice, we 
meet with the river Niagara, which is not above a quarter 
of a league broad, but is wonderfully deep in some pla- 
ces. It is so rapid above this descent, that it violently 
hurries down the wild beasts while endeavoring to pass 
it to feed on the other side, they not being able to with- 



THE FALLS. 



55 



Earliest Discoveries. 



g the 
never 
r dis- 
oring 
ior to 



ETC. 

lember, 
Lakes 
sadence 
d asto- 
)es not 
id boast 
hey are 
' which 
(ice, we 
quarter 
me pla- 
iolently 
to pass 
:o with- 



stand the force of its current, which inevitably casts 
them headlong above six hundred feet high. 

"This wonderfiil downfall is compounded of two 
great cross stream*' of water, and two falls, with an isle 
sloping alor^ the idle of it. T; j a ^cr8 which fall 
from this horrible precipice, do foam and boil afier the 
most hideous manner imaginable, making an outrageous 
noise, more terrible than that of thunder; for when the 
wind blows out of the south, their dismal roaring may 
be heard more than fifteen leagues off. 

<* The river Niagara having thrown itself down this 
incredible precipice, continues its impetuous course for 
two leagues together, to the Great Rock above men- 
tioned, with an inexpressible rapidity; but having passed 
that, its impetuosity relents, gliding along more gently 
for other two leagues, till it arrives at the Lake Ontario 
or Frontenac. 

** Any barque or greater vessel may pass from the Fort 
to the foot of this huge rock, above mentioned. This 
rock lies to the westward, and is cut off from the land 
by the river Niagara, about two leagues further down 
than the Great Fall ; for which two leagues the people 
are obliged to transport their goods over land ; but the 
way is very good, and the trees are but few, chiefly 
firs and oaks. 

«* From the Great Fall unto this rock, which is to the 
west of the river, the two brinks of it are so prodigious 



ill 



I f 



\ M 



\ m I 



> I 



56 



BOOK OF 



Earliest Discoveries. 



high, that it would make one tremble to look steadily 
upon the water, rolling along with a rapidity not to be 
imagined. Were it not for this vast cataract, which 
interrupts navigation, they might sail with barques or 
greater vessels more than four hundred and fifty leagues, 
crossing the Lake of Huron, and reaching even to the 
further end of the Lake Illinois ; which two lakes we 
may easily say are little seas of fresh water. 

*< After we had rowed above an hundred and forty 
leagues upon the Lake Erie, by reason of the many 
windings of the bays and creeks which we were forced 
to coast, we passed by the Great Fall of Niagara, and 
spent half a day in considering the wonders of that pro- 
digious cascade. 

** I could not conceive how it came to pass, that four 
great lakes, the least of which is four hundred leagues in 
compass, should empty themselves one into another, and 
then all centre and discharge themselves at this Great 
Fall, and yet not drown good part of America. What is 
5^et more surprising, the ground from the mouth of the 
Lake Erie down to the Great Fall, appears almost level 
and fiat. It is scarce discernable that there is the least 
rise or fall for six leagues together. The more than or- 
dinary swiftness of the stream is the only thing which 
makes it to be observed. And that which makes it yet 
the stranger is, that for two leagues together, below the 



li 



THE FALLS. 



5T 



Earliest Discoveries. 






Fall, towards Lake Ontario or Frontenac, the lands are 
as level as they are above it towards the Lake Erie. 

"Our surprise was still greater when we observed 
there was no mountain within two good leagues of this 
cascade ; and yet the vast quantity of water which is 
discharged by these four fresh seas/ stops or centres 
here, and so falls above six hundred feet deep down into 
a gulf, which one cannot look upon without horror. 
Two other great outlets or falls of water, which are on 
the two sides of a small sloping island, which is in the 
midst, fall gently and without noise, and so glide away 
quietly enough; but when this prodigious quantity of 
water of which I speak, comes to the fall, there is such 
a din and such a noise, more deafening than the loudest 
thunder. 

<< The rebounding of these waters is so great, that a 
sort of cloud arises from the foam of it, which is seen 
hanging over this abyss, even at noon-day, when the 
sun is at its height. In the midst of summer, when the 
weather is hottest, they rise above the tallest firs, and 
other great trees, which grow on the sloping island, 
which makes the two falls of water that I spoke of. 

<< 1 wished an hundred times, that somebody had been 
with us, who could have described the wonders of this 
prodigious, frightful Fall, so as to give the reader a just 
and natural idea of it; such as might satisfy him, and 



58 



BOOK OP 



Earliest Discoveries. 






1 ;! 



ill 



cause in him an admiration of this prodigy of Nature, 
as great as it deserves. In the meantime accept the 
following draught, such as it is ; in which, however, I 
have endeavored to give the curious reader as just an 
image of it as I can. 

*' We must call to mind what I observed of it in the 
beginning of my voyage. From the mouth of the Lake 
Erie to the Great Fall, are reckoned six leagues, as I 
have said, which is the continuation of the great river of 
St. Lawrence, which arises out of the four lakes above 
mentioned. The river, you must needs think, is very 
rapid for these six leagues, because of the vast discharge 
of waters which fall into it out of the said lakes. The 
lands which lie on both sides of it to the east and west, 
are all level from the Lake Erie to the Great Fall. Its 
banks are not steep, on the contrary, the water is almost 
always level with the land. It is very certain, that the 
ground toward the Fall is lower, by the more than ordi- 
nary swiftness of the stream; and yet it is not perceiva- 
ble to the eye for six leagues above. 

* * After it has run thus violently for six leagues, it 
meets with a small sloping island, about half a quarter of 
a league long, and near three hundred feet broad, as well 
as one can guess by the eye; for it is impossible to come 
at it in a canoe of bark, the waters run with that force. 
The isle is full of cedar and fir; but the land of it lies no 



THE PALLS. 



59 



Earliest Discoveries. 



higher than that on the barks of the river. It seems to 
be all level, even as far as the two great cascades that 
make the main Fall. 

*< The two sides of the channels, which are made by 
the isle, and run on both sides of it, overflow almost the 
very surface of the earth of the said isfe, as well as the 
land that lies on the banks of the river to the east and 
west, as it runs south and north. But we must observe, 
that at the end of the isle, on the side of the two Great 
Falls, there is a sloping rock which reaches as far as the 
great gulf, into which the said water falls, and yet the 
rock is not at all wetted by the two cascades, which fall 
on both sides, because the two torrents which are made 
by the itde, throw themselves with a prodigious force, 
one towards the east and the other towards the west, 
from off the end of the isle, where the Great Fall of all is. 

** After these two torrents have thus run by the two 
sides of the isle, they cast their waters all of a sudden, 
down into the gulf by two great falls; which waters are 
pushed so violently on by their own weight, and so sus- 
tained by the swiftness of the motion, that they do not 
wet the rock in the least. And here it is that they tum- 
ble down into an abyss above six hundred feet in depth. 

** The waters that flow on the side of the east, do not 
throw themselves with that violence as those that fall on 
the west ; the reason is, because the rock at the end of 



eo 



BOOK OP 



Earliest Discoveries. 



' ff. 



the island, rises something more on this side than it does 
on the west; and so the waters being supported by it 
somewhat longer than they are on the other side, are 
carried the smoother ofF; but on the west, the rock 
sloping more, the waters, for want of a support, become 
the sooner broken, and fall with greater precipitation. 
Another reason is, the lands that lie on the west are 
lower than those that lie on the east. We also observed 
that the waters of the fall that is to the west, made a 
sort of a square figure as they fell, which made a third 
cascade, less than the other two, which fell betwixt the 
south and north. 

** And because there is a rising ground which lies be- 
fore those two cascades to the north, the gulf is much 
larger there than to the east. Moreover, we must ob- 
serve, that from the rising ground that lies over against 
the two last falls, which are on the west of the main fall, 
one may go down as far as the bottom of this terrible 
gulf The author of this discovery was down there, 
the more narrowly to observe the fall of these prodi- 
gious cascadbc. From thence we could discover a spot 
of ground, which iay under the fall of water which is to 
the east, big enough for four coaches to drive abreast, 
without being wet; but because the ground which is to 
the east of the sloping rock, where ihe first fall empties 
itself into the gulf, is very steep and perpeiidicular, it is 



THE PALLS. 



(!t 



Earliest Discoveries. 



it does 
d by it 
de, are 
le rock 
)ecome 
itation. 
est are 
bserved 
made a 
a third 
71x1 the 

I 

lies be- 

Ls much 

nust ob-^ 

against 

lain fall) 

terrible 

a there, 

p prodi- 

r a spot 

ich is to 

abreast, 

ich is to 

empties 

liar, it is 






impossible for a man to get down on that side, into the 
place where^he four coaches may go abreast, or to make 
his way through such a quantity of water as falls towards 
the gulf; 80 that it is very probable, that to this dry 
place it is that the rattle-snakes retire, by certain pas- 
sages which they find under ground. 

**• From the end of this island it is that these two great 
fails of waters, as also the third but now mentioned, 
throw themselves, after a most surprising manner, awn 
into a dreadful gulf, six hundred feet and more in depth. 
I have already said, that the waters whi^h discharge 
themselves at the cascade to the east, fall with lesser 
force; whereas those to the west tumble all at once, 
making two cascades, one moderate, the other very 
violent and strong, which at last make a kind of crotchet 
or square figure, falling from south to north, and west 
to east. After this they rejoin the waters of the other 
cascade that falls to the east, ard so tumble down al- 
together, though unequally, into the gulf, with all the 
violence that can be imagined from a fall of six hundred 
feet, which makes the most frightful cascade in the 
world. 

<< Afler these waters have thus discharged themselves 
into the dreadful gulf, they begin to resume their course, 
and continue the great river St. Lawrence for two 
leagues, as far as the three mountains which are on the 

6 



I !i 



62 



BOOK OF 



Earliest Discoveries. 



I ij 



' I 






I'i 



it 



! I 



y 



5.. 



east side of the river, and the great rock which is on the 
west, and lifts itself three fathoms aoove the water, or 
thereabouts. The gulf into which these ^vaters are 
discharged, continues itself thus two leagues together, 
between a chain of rocks, flowing with a prodigious 
torrent, which is bridled and kept in by the rocks that 
lie on each side of the river. 

<* Into this gulf it is that these several cascades empty 
themselves, with a violence equal to the height from 
whence they fall, and the quantity of water which they 
discharge; and hence arise those deafening sounds, that 
dreadful roaring and bellowing of the waters, which 
drown the loudest thunder, as also the perpetual mists 
that hang over the gulf, and rise above the tallest pines 
that are in the little isle so often mentioned. After a 
channel is again made at the bottom of this dreadful 
fall, by the chain of rocks, and filled by that prodigious 
quantity of waters which are continually falling, the 
river of St. Lawrence resumes its course. But with 
that violence, and its waters beat against the rocks with 
so prodigious a force, that it is impossible to pass even 
iii a canoe of bark, though in one of them, a man may 
venture safe enough upon the most rapid streams, by 
keeping close to the shore. 

'' These rocks, as also the prodigious torrent, last for 
two leagu^^s; that is from the great falls, to the three 



THE FALLS. 



63 



Earliest Discoveries. 



mountains and great rock; but then it begins insensibly 
to abate, and the land to be again almost on a level 
with the water, and so it continues as far as the Lake 
Ontario or Frontenac. 

<< When one stands near the fall, and looks down 
into the dreadful gulf, one is seized with horror, and 
the head turns round, so that one cannot look long or 
steadfastly upon it. But this vast deluge beginning in- 
sensibly to abate, and even to fall to nothing about the 
three mountains, the waters of the river St. Lawrence 
begin to glide more genlly along, and to be almost upon 
a level with the lands ; so that it becomes navigable 
again as far as the Lake Frontenac, over which we pass 
to come to the new canal, which is m&de by the dis- 
charge .of its waters. Then we enter again ^ipon the 
river St. Lawrence, which not long after makes that 
which they call the Long Fall, an hundred leagues from 
Niagara. 

*' I have often heard talk of the cataracts of the Nile, 
which make the people deaf that live near them. I 
know not if the Iroquois, who formerly inhabited near 
this fall, and lived upon beasts which from time to time 
are borne down by the violence of its torrent, withdrew 
themselves from its neighborhood, lest they should like- 
wise become deaf, or out of the continual fear they were 
in of rattle-snakes, which are very common in this place 



!l 
I 



64 



BOOK OF 



it » 



^1 

ii 



f P 1 



Earliest Discoveries. 



during the great heats, and lodge in the holes along 
the rocks as far as the mountainsi which lie two leagues 
lower." 

The writer, after considerable inquiry and personal 
examination, is unable to determine what Father Hen- 
nepin means by the Three Mountains, and the Great 
Rock; and he cannot believe that the falls were ever 
six hundred feet high, as is repeatedly stated in the 
book. But Father Hennepin's description is, in the 
main, remarkably correct; and establishes the fact, that 
in 1678, there were three distinct falls as they are now, 
and that the fall on the Canada side exhibited then 
somewhat of the appearance of a horse shoe. His de- 
scription too, of the islands, shores, &c., corresponds 
with their present appearance. 

In a work written by the Chevalier de Tonti,* who 
was of the party with Father Hennepin, there is a 
description of the falls, and of Niagara river, corres- 
ponding with, and corroborating Hennepin' s, but with 
the addition of no important facts. 

Baron La Hontan,t who visited this cataract in May, 

* Entitled, '' Relations de la Louisiane et du Fleuve Alississippi, 
etc. 1720, Amsterdam, par le Gouverneur de Tonti, Gouverneur du 
Fort Saint Louis, aux Illinois." ^ 

t His book is entitled, " New Voyages to North America, etc. 
Written in French, by the Baron La Hontan, Lord Lieutenant of 
the French Colony at Placentia, in New-Foundland, at that time 
in England. Done into English, the second edition. London, 
1735." 



THB FALLS. 



Earliest Discoveries. 



1688, thus describes it: "As for the waterfall of Niagara, 
it is seven or eight hundred feet high, and half a league 
broad. Towards the middle of it we descry an island 
that leans towards the precipice, as if it were ready to 
fall. All the beasts that cross the water within half a 
quarter of a league above the unfortunate island, are 
sucked in by the force of the stream. And the beasts 
and fish that are thus killed by the prodigious fall, serve 
for food to fifty Iroquese, who are settled above two 
leagues off, and take 'em out of the water with their 
canows. Between the surface of the water that shelves 
off prodigiously, and the foot of the precipice, three men 
may cross in abreast, without any other damage than a 
sprinkling of some few drops of water." 

In the Philosophical Transactions, for 1722, there is 
a description of the falls, given by Monsieur Borasseau, 
who had visited them at seven different times. He says 
that the Governor of Canada had, on the previous year, 
** ordered his own son, with three other officers, to 
survey Niagara, and take the exact height of the cata- 
ract, which they accordingly did, with a stone of half 
a hundred weight, and a large cod line, and found it, 
upon a perpendicular, twenty-six fathoms," or one hun- 
dred and twenty-six feet. 

These extracts may not be considered of much value, 
except by those persons who have a curiosity to learn 



: 1 



ii 



"X^-.f^iT^ 



BOOK OF 



Places of Descent . . . View from Brock's Monument. 

something about the falls, as they appeared in a former 
age. , 

There are five places between the Falls and Lewiston, 
where persons can descend from the top of the bank t ^ 
the water, viz: from the end of Mr. Childs' and also Mr. 
Graves's farm, at the Whirlpool, at the Devil's Hole, 
and from the end of Mr. Colt's farm. There are also, 
on the Canada side, a number of places where visiters 
can descend safely to the water's edge. From these 
places under the bank, the river scenery appears trans- 
cendantly beautiful and sublime, and the rapids strike 
the beholder with more amazement, if possible, than the 
falls themselves. Here may be found in reality. 



!!ii ! 



" A happy rural seat of various view ; 

Flowers of all hue, 

Umbrageous grots and caves 
Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine 
Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps 
Luxuriant." 



The top of the bank on either side, near Brock's Mon- 
ument, affords a delightful and almost boundless prospect 
of the country and lake below. The unrivalled Niagara 
is traced to its outlet, guarded by two opposite Forts, 
and bearing sloops and steamboats into the glassy lake; 
while the mighty expanse of plains and waters presents 



THE FALLS. 



It. 
former 

(riston, 
»ank t^ 
so Mr. 
Hole, 
e also, 
visiters 
1 these 
} trans- 
9 strike 
lan the 



's Mon- 
»rospect 
Niagara 
I Forts, 
3y lake; 
)resents 



Quantity of Water passing over the Falls. 

a scene so picturesque and enchanting, that the traveller 
leaves his position with reluctance. From Lewiston to 
Lake Ontario, seven miles, the river is deep, smooth and 
navigable for boats and vessels of every description; and 
Lewiston, being the head of navigation, is the princi- 
pal landing place for the steamboats that run on Lake 
Ontario. 

At the mouth of the Niagara river, on the American 
side, stand the villages of Youngstown and Fort Nia- 
gara; and on the Canada side, the villages of Niagara 
and Fort George. 

The quantity of water constantly pouring over the 
falls, and passing into the lake, is computed, from pro- 
bable data, at 670,250 tons per minute : but Dr. Dwight 
computes it, from the depth, width, and velocity of the 
current, at more than eighty-five millions of tons per 
hour; and by another calculation^, supposing a swifter 
current, at 102,093,750 tons per hour. Darby com- 
putes it at 1,672,704,000 cubic feet per hour. These 
results are somewhat different, but the first is probably 
nearest the truth. Dr. Dwight supposes, in one cal- 
culation, a current of five, and in the other, of six 
miles per hour, the least of which is undoubtedly too 
much. The prodigious torrent of waters, and the tre- 
mendous rush and noise of the falling cataract, seems tc 
put at defiance all attempts at calculation. 



BOOK OP 



Objects of Special Interest . . . Curiosities. 



OBJECTS OP SPECIAL INTEREST CURIOSITIES. 



\u 



I 



A number of these, as the islands, the bridges, the 
stair-cases, the burning springs, Brock's Monument, the 
Welland Canal, &c., have already been described. One 
mile above the falls, on the American side, is the site of 
old Fort Schlosser; a place somewhat distinguished in 
the early history of this region, and commanding a 
most beautiful prospect of the river and rapids, of Grand 
and Navy Islands, and of the village of Chippewa, on 
the opposite shore. Nothing remains of the fort, ex- 
cept the entrenchments, and a few rods of pavement 
within. 

A stockade was built here in the year 1672. Before the 
construction of the Erie Canal, all the business between 
the lakes were interchanged by means of a land carriage 
from this place to Lewiston. Half a mile below the falls, 
under the bank, are Catlin's Caves, a visit to which no 
traveller will be likely to regret. Vast quantities of 
calcareous or petrified moss arc found here in all stages 
of its petrifying process. On the other side, nearly 
opposite, is Bender's Cave, a place which is thought 
to be worthy a special visit. < 



THE FALLS. 



69 



Mineral Spring . . . Whirlpool. 



MINERAL SPAING, 



Two miles below the falls, on the American Bide, is a 
Mineral Spring, containing su!, huric and muriatic acids, 
lime and magnesia; and by the use of its waters many 
important cures have been effected. For scrofulous, 
rheumatic and cutaneous complaints, this spring supplies 
an almost sovereign remedy. From the stage road near 
the spring, travellers have a most delightful view of the 
whole falls, two miles distant; and if they see the falls 
from this place first, as they generally do in coming up 
from Lewiston, the impression here made will probably 
never be effaced. Capt. Hall remarks respecting this 
place, <* I felt at the moment quite sure that no subse- 
quent examination, whether siear or remote, could ever 
remove, or even materially weaken the impression left 
by this first view.' 



it 



WHIRLPOOL. 



One mile further down leads to a tremendous whirl- 
pool, resembling very much, in its appearance and 
gyrations, the celebrated MsBlstrom on the coast of 



70 



BOOK OF 



The Whirlpool. 



Norway. Logs and trees are sometimes whirled around 
for days together in its outer circles, while in the centre 
they are drawn down perpendicularly with great force, 
are soon shot out again at the distance of many rods, 
and occasionally thrust into the channel t« >ass down 
the river. The river here makes nearly a right single, 
which occasions the whirlpool, — is narrower than at 
any other plac6, — not more than thirty rods in width, — 
and the current runs with such amazing velocity as to 
rise up in the middle ten feet ahove the sides. This has 
been ascertained by actual measurement. 



" Resistless, roaring, dreadful down it comes, — 
There, gathering triple force, rapid and deep, — 
It boils, and wheels, and foams, and thunders through." 

There is a path leading down the bank to the whirl- 
pool on both sides, and, though somewhat difficult to 
descend and ascend, it is accomplished almost every 
day on the American side, by gentlemen, and often by 
ladies. 

A brisk and very refreshing breeze is felt there during 
the hottest and stillest days of summer; and no place 
is better fitted to elevate and expand the mind. The 
whirlpool is a phenomenon of great interest as seen even 
from the top of the bank, especially if a small telescope 
be used; but to have any adequate idea of its power 



THE FALLS. 



71 



Whirlpool . . . Perilous Incident. 



and motion, visiters ought to descend to the water's 
edge, and walk some distance up the river. The rapids 
here are much more powerful and terrific than they are 
above the falls, and appear like a flood of watery bril* 
Hants rushing along. 

Having written thus far, the writer laid down his pen 
and started off on a fresh visit to the whirlpool; and 
now, having spent half a day there in mute astonishment 
and admiration, and walked more than a mile by the 
river's edge, he is utterly at a loss what language ta 
use in describing it. He is aware that the above des- 
cription is tame and meagre; and yet he can think of 
no language, no imagery, no comparison, that will not 
fall immeasurably short of conveying a just idea of the 
scene. He can only say, soberly and earnestly, that no 
gentleman ought hereafter to acknowledge that he has 
seen the Falls of Niagara, unless he could also say he 
had seen the Whirlpool, from the water's edge. A stair- 
case down the bank, would be a great accommodation to 
visiters, and it is to be hoped that one ere long will be 
constructed. Water for hydraulic purposes, may easily 
be brought into use here to an almost unlimited extent. 

About the year 1812, an accident occurred here, per- 
haps worth recording. A party of men were employed 
in cutting cedar logs near the river about the whirlpool, 
with a view to get them floated to Lewiston. One man 



72 



BOOK OP 



Devil's Hole. 



m^ 



stepping upon some of them that were railed, was im- 
perceptibly, or perhaps through carelessness, drawn out 
into the current, and swiftly carried into the whirlpool. 
He clung to a log and was carried round and round in 
the capacious hasin for hours, expecting every moment 
to be crushed among the logs or thrust into the vortex, 
while his companions on shore could afford him no relief. 
At length some of them ascended the bank, went to 
Queenston, four miles, and procured a hoat to be drawn 
up by a team. This was let down the bank, and many 
people assembled with ropes, poles, &c. to render assist- 
ance. After the boat had been well secured, and some 
men had stepped in intending to pusii out into the whirl- 
pool, the man upon the log, still whirling in imminent 
peril of his life, was, by some action of the water, sent 
out directly to the shore, and finally saved, without 
receiving any aid from others. 



devil's HOLE. 



A mile below the Whirlpool is a place on the American 
side, called the ** Devil's Hole," embracing about two 
acres, cut out laterally and perpendicularly in the rock 
by the side of the river, and about one hundred and fifty 
feet deep. This name was probably given from that of 



THE FALLS. 



73 



Devil's Hole. 



the personage more frequently invoked in this region, 
formerly, than any other. How this hole was thus made 
it is difficult to conjecture. Visiters look into it with 
silent, inexpressible amazement. An angle of this hole 
or gulf comes within a few feet of tue stage road, afford- 
ing travellers an opportunity, without alighting, of 
looking into the yawning abyss. But they ought to 
alight and pass to the farther side of the flat projecting 
rock, where they will feel themselves richly repaid for 
their trouble. The scenery there presented is singularly 
captivating and sublime. 

This place is distinguished by aji incident that occiirrcd 
about the year 1759. A company of British soldiers, 
pursued by the French and Indians, were driven off thjs 
rock at the point of the bayonet. All, save one, instantly 
perished upon the rocks two hundred feet beneath them. 
This one fell into the crotch of a tree, and succeeded 
afterwards in ascending the bank and making his escape. 

A man by the name of Steadman, who lived at Fort 
Schlosser, was among this company of British, but made 
his escape on horseback, just before coming to the bank, 
though many balls whizzed about him in his flight. The 
Indians afterwards imagined him to be impenetrable, 
and invincible, became very friendly, and ultimately, in 
consid;eration of some services he rendered them, gave 
him all the land included between Niagara river and a 

7 



74 



BOOK OP 



Tnscarora Indians. 



straight line drawn from Gill Creek above Fort Schlosser 
to the Devil's Hole, embracing about 5000 acres. The 
heirs of Steadman, so late as the year 1833, instituted 
and carried on a long and expensive law-suit against the 
State of New- York, to recover this land. But they 
could show no title, and the suit resulted in favor of the 
State and the present occupants. 



TUSCARORA INDIANS. 



Eight miles below the Falls, and three miles back from 
the river, is the Reservation of the Tuscarora Indians,^ 
containing two miles in width by four in length, (about 
5000 acres,) of very excellent land. They consist of 
about three hundred souls, have a Presbyterian Church 
of fifty members, a resident clergyman, and a school 
teacher, and a Temperance Society of more than one 
hundred members. They are under the care of the 
American Board of Foreign Missions. Their village is 
delightfully situated on a high bank commanding an 
extensive prospect of the surrounding country, and of 
Lake Ontario. But the greater part of the Indians live 
in a settlement a mile and a half from the village, and 
are not generally seen by visiters. 



THE FALLS. 



75 



Battles. 



These Indians came from North Carolina, about the 
year 1712, and joined the confederacy of the Five Na- 
tions, themselves making the Sixth. They formerly 
held a very valuable interest in land, in North Carolina, 
but have recently sold it and divided the proceeds equally 
among themselves. Many of them are in very prosper- 
ous circumstances; in iue year 1834, one man raised and 
gathered fifty acres of wheat. 

Visiters at the Falls have been in the habit of going, 
sometimes in crowds, to this village on the Sabbath; but 
the Indians, with their Missionary, have often expressed 
their desire that visiters would not interrupt them at 
that time. 



BATTLES. 



In the immediate vicinity of the Falls, many incidents 
have occurred to impart an additional interest. This was 
the scene of a number of battles fought during the last 
war with Great feritain; those at Fort Erie, Chippewa, 
and Lundy's Lane, were among the most bloody and 
hard fought, that are recorded in history. In the battle 
near Fort Erie, there was what has generally been con- 
sidered, a Military Chief d'oeuvre; the Americans, to the 






76 



BOOK OP 



Bridges. 



number of 1000 regulars and 1000 of the militia, made a 
sortie and took the British works about 500 yards from 
their line, and returned in triumph. The battles in this 
region occurred in the following order, viz : at Queens- 
ton, October 13, 1812; at York, April 27, 1813; at Fort 
George, May 27, do. ; at Stoney Creek, June 5, do. ; at 
Beaver Dam, June 24, do. ; Naval Battle on Lake Erie, 
September 10, do. ; the village of Niagara Falls, Lewis- 
ton, and Youngstown burnt, December 19, do. ; Buffalo 
and Black Rock burnt, December 31, do. ; Fort Erie taken 
July 3, 1814; battle of Chippewa, July 6, do.; at Bridge- 
water or Lundy's Lane, July 25, do.; at Fort Erie, 
August 15, and September 17, 1814. The burning of 
villages and plunder of property on the frontier, are 
still remembered, and the circumstances detailed with 
thrilling interest, by many of the inhabitants. 



BRIDGES. 



In the year 1817, a bridge was constructed from the 
shore across the rapids to the head of Goat Island, but 
was swept away by the ice the ensuing spring. The 
present bridge was constructed in 1818, and is forty-four 
rods in length, exclusive of Bath Island. This bridge, 
though crossing the foaming rapids only sixty-four rods 



THE FALLS. 



77 



Bridges. 



"I? i 



above the falls, over which visiters are at first disposed 
to walk lightly and with quickened pace, is perfectly 
safe for all kinds of teams and carriages, and seems 
destined to stand a great length of time. Multitudes 
inquire, with wonder and eager curiosity, how it could 
have been constructed in this imminently dangerous 
place. 

They shall be informed; and they will see that, like a 
thousand other difficult things, it was easily accomplish- 
ed, when the mode was ascertained. Two very long 
timbers were thrust out from the shore on an abutment, 
having the forward ends elevated a little above the rapids 
and the other? firmly secured upon the bank: these were 
then covered with plank for a temporary bridge. At the 
extremity of this bridge, very large stones were let down 
into the river, around which timbers were sunk, locked 
together so as to form a frame, which was afterwards 
filled with stone. To this, constituting the first pier, a 
firm bridge was then constructed, and the temporary 
bridge shoved forward so as to build a second pier like 
the first, and so on till the whole was completed. The 
honor of projecting and constructing this bridge belongs 
jointly and equally to the proprietors, the Hon. Augustus 
and General Peter B. Porter. - 

Till the year 1817, there was no way of descending or 
ascending the bank below the falls, except by a ladder 

7* 



78 



BOOK OF 



Places of Resort . . . Minerals. 



about one hundred feet in length; since then a safe and 
convenient flight of stairs has been built, by which 
visiters can have an easy descent to the ferry, and an 
opportunity to pass a considerable distance behind the 
magnificent sheet of water. Perhaps there is no place 
where the height of the fall is so impressively realized as 
here. 



PLACES OP RESORT — MINERALS. 



I i 



There are a number of pretty establishments at the 
Falls, where are kept on hand rich specimens of the 
mineral, fossil, vegetable and animal productions of the 
vicinity. Among these establishments, as a place of 
resort, Mr. W. E. Hulett's, deserves a conspicuous 
notice. His place is directly opposite the Cataract Ho- 
tel, and visiters ;«7ill there find a library, reading-room, 
billiard-room, &c. &c., and a most splendid collection 
of minerals, both from the vicinity of the Falls, and from 
other parts of the United States. 

Mr. A. B. Jacobs, on Bath Island, Mr. S. Hooker, and 
some others, on the American side; and Mr. Barnett, 
at his Museum, Mr. Starkey and Mr. Shultersburgh, on 



THE PALLS. 



Incidents. 



the Canada side, keep on hand an assortment of minera- 
logical specimens, a variety of elegant articles of Indian 
manufacture, canes, &c. Among the minerals kept for 
sale, are, transparent selenites; snow-white gypsum; 
calcareous, bitter, dog-tooth, and fluor spar: crystalized 
quartz; petrifactions; favasites and otlier fossils; shells, 
&.C. There arc also some noble specimens of bald and 
gray eagles, with which this region abounds. 



INCIDENTS. 



Men have occasionally been drawn into the rapids 
with their boats, and carried over the falls; but not a 
vestige of them or their boats hi.t f3cavcely ever been 
found. The great depth of the water below, and the 
tumultuous agitation occasic ujd by the eddies, whirl- 
pools, and counter currents, make it next to impossible 
for any thing once sunk to rise again, until carried so 
far down the stream as to make fruitless any research. 

In the year 1820, two men, in a state of intoxication, 
fell asleep in their scow which was fastened at the 
mouth of Chippewa Creek; wliile there it oroke away, 
and they awoke finding themselves beyond the reach of 
hope, dashing ever the rapids. 



■^*/"' i 



11: 


1 1 


! 1 


■ji 




1 II i ' 



80 



BOOK OF 



Vessels driven over the Falls. 



In the year 1822, two otherw, engaged in removing^ 
some furniture from Grand Island, were by some care- 
lessness drawn into the rapids, and hurried over the 
cataract. 

In 1825, two more, in attempting to smuggle some 
whiskey across to Chippewa, were hurried into the ra- 
pids and shared a similar fate. A story has frequently 
been told of an Indian, who fell asleep in his canoe some 
miles above, and awoke in the midst of the rapids; 
perceiving that all efforts to escape would be vain, he 
turned his bottle of whiskey down his throat, and com- 
posedly awaited the awful plunge. This story the 
writer believes to be fabulous, as he has never been able 
to find any foundation for it, except that it is a stereo- 
type Indian story, told as having happened at all the 
different falls in the country. 

In September 1 827, notice having been given in the 
newspapers that the Michigan, a large vessel that had 
run on Lake Erie, would be sent over the falls, thirty 
thousand people, it was supposed, assembled to witness 
the novel spectacle. On board of this -'^espel were pjt 
two bears, a buffalo, two rackoons, a aog, and a goose; 
the bears leaped off in the midst of the rapids, and, 
miraculously almost, finally reached the shore in safety. 
The others went over and perished. The Michigan 
before she reached the falls, having been considerably 



THE FALLS. 



81 



Vessels driven over the Falls. 



broken in the rapids, sunk to a level with the surface, 
and went over near the centre of the horse-shoe fall. 
Th: distance from deck to keel was sixteen feet; and 
as she did not appear to touch the bottom for eighty 
rods before she went over, the conclufaion is, that the 
water as it passes over the precipice there must be at 
least twenty feet deep. 

Ir- October 1829, another vessel, the Superior, was 
advertised to be sent over, which drew together about 
fifteen thousand people. This vessel lodged in the ra- 
pids and remained a number of weeks, and finally passed 
over the falls in the night. 

In August 1828, a small sloop, abandoned by the men 
through fright, near the mouth of Chippewa Creek, was 
blown with all her sails up, so far across the river as to 
come down on tho American side of Goat Island; but 
was broken to a perfect wreck in the rapids, so as to 
pass under the bridge and over the falls. 

In July 1832, a canal boat was blown over from Chip- 
pewa, and lodged in the rapids a short distance above 
the bridge. Some men and one woman were on board, 
and were saved at most imminent peril, and the boat 
was finally secured and drawn ashore. 

The rock at the falls is hard limestone to the depth 
of about seventy feei, below which it is loose, crumbling 
shale, which is constantly wearing away and leaving a 
projection of the limestone. 



82 



BOOK OP 



Fall of Table Rock . . . Sam Patch. 



A mass of Table Rock, 160 feet in length and from 30 
to 40 feet in width, fell off in July 1818, with a tremen- 
dous crash. On the 9th of December 1828, three im- 
mense portions broke from the horse-shoe fall, causing " 
a shock like an earthquake. Another large portion fell 
in the summer of 1829, and the noise it occasioned was 
heard several miles. And yet, judging from the pub- 
lished accounts of the falls which reach back nearly two 
hundred years, there has been but very little recession 
of the falls within that period. 

In October 1829, Sam. Patch jumped twice, in the 
presence of thousands of spectators, from the top of a 
ladder ninety seven feet high into the eddy below the 
falls. This ladder was erected directly below the Bid- 
die Stair-case. Poor Sam afterwards lost his life by 
jumping from the falls of Genesee River, at Rochester. 

May 19, 1835, two men in attempting to pass down 
the river from Tonawanda to Chippewa in a scow, were 
driven by the "vJnd rato the rapids, and one of them 
went over the falls; the othc , after leaping from the 
scow, reached a shoal where he could stand in the 
water with his heiid out. In this situation he was seen 
from the American shore; and two men, at the imminent 
hazard of their lives, went out in a boat, and succeeded 
in saving him, and returning safely to shore. 

Again, June 10, 1835, two men in passing from Schlos- 



THE FALLS. 



83 



Burning of the Caroline. 



from 30 
tremen- 
hree im- 
causing " 
rtion fell 
)ned was 
the pub- 
?arly two 
recession 

3, in the 
top of a 
^elow the 
the Bid- 
s life by 
(Chester, 
ass down 
ow, were 
of them 
from the 
d in the 
was seen 
imminent 
succeeded 

n Schlos- 



ser to Chippewa, in a skiff, were drawn into the rapids 
and hurried to destruction. While in the rapids, they 
were seen for a short time by persons on the Pavilion. 
Some days aflerwards, their bodies were found in an 
eddy a mile below the falls, one of which was deprived 
of a leg and an arm. 

Another melancholy incident happened on the night 
of December 29, 1837, while the Patriots were in pos- 
session of Navy Island. The steamboat Caroline, while 
lying at Schlosser, was at midnight attacked by a party 
of Canadian soldiers and one person killed. She was 
then towed out into the stream, set on fire, and was 
carried over the falls by the current. Nothing was to 
be found of her the next morning except a small quan- 
tity of the wreck which was thrown upon the shore 
below the falls. The history of this boat was somewhat 
singular; she was originally built at Charleston, South 
Carolina, was from thence brought to New York, from 
thence to Albany, and from Albany she was brought 
through the Erie and Oswego Canals to Lake Ontario, 
and from Lake Ontario through the Welland Canal to 
Chippewa, U. C, between which place and Buffalo she 
plied for some time as a passage boat; until she was 
seized by the Collector of Buffalo, condemned, and sold 
for a violation of the revenue laws, and at length, during 
the Canadian disturbances, finished her career, by a leap 
down the aw ful abyss of Niagara. 



i:;^:' «^^ 



f^k^ 



84 



BOOK OF 



Perilous Situation and Daring Rescue. 



An occurrence of the most thrilling interest took 
place July 25, 1839, while the workmen were employed 
in repairing the bridge to Iris Island. 

A man by the name of Chapin, while at work upon 
a staging, about 100 feet from the Island, accidentally 
lost his footing and was precipitated into the rapids, 
and in an instant swept away towards the great cataract. 
Speedy destruction seemed to await him; but fortunately 
he was uninjured by the fall, and in this condition re- 
tained his self-possession. He succeeded, by great dex- 
terity in swimming, in effecting a landing upon a little 
island, the outermost of a group of little cedar Islands, 
situated some 30 or 40 yards above the falls, between 
Goat Island and the American shore. 

There he remained for an hour, looking beseechingly 
back upon the spectators who lined the shore, among 
whom were his wife and children, and with whom he 
could hold no communication on account of the distance 
and the roar of the falls. In this emergency, Mr. J. R. 
Robinson, a man of extraordinary strength and intrepi- 
dity, and an excellent boatman, generously volunteered 
his services to attempt his rescue. A light boat of two 
oars, similar to the Whitehall race boats, was soon pro- 
cured and he embarked. 

He proceeded with great deliberation and skill, dart- 
ing his little boat across the rapid channels, and at the 



THE PALLS. 



85 



Perilous Situation and Daring Rescue. 



1^ 



intervening eddies, holding up, to survey his situation 
and recover strength, ^s he neared the island, a rapid 
channel still intervened, rendering the attempt to land 
very hazardous. He paused for a moment, and then 
with all his strength, darted across and sprang from his 
boat — his foot slipped, and he fell backward into the 
rapid current. With the most consummate coolness and 
skill, he retained his grasp on the boat, sprang in, and 
seizing his oars, brought up under the lee of the little 
Island, Still the great labor and hazard of the under- 
taking remained to be overcome. Robinson proved 
equal to the task. Taking his companion on board in 
the same careful and deliberate manner, though at infi- 
nitely greater hazard and labor, they eifected a safe 
landing upon Goat Island. There the spectators assem- 
bled to give them a cordial greeting. A scene of great 
excitement ensued. The boat was drawn upon the bank 
and by acclamation a collection was taken up on the 
spot for Chapin and his noble hearted deliverer. It was 
generously made and thankfully received; but the reflec- 
tion to Robinson that he has rescued a fellow creature 
under such circumstances, will be to his generous heart 
a much richer and more lasting reward. Robinson and 
Chapin were placed in the boat by the spectators and 
carried in triumph to the village. 



86 



BOOK OF 



Ttie Hermit of Niagara Falls. 



THE HERMIT OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



June 10, 1831, the **Hermit*' was drowned while 
bathing in the river below the falls. The following ac- 
count of this singular being is abridged and condensed 
from one drawn up and published soon aflber his death. 

* 'A young Englishman, named Francis Abbot, of re- 
spectable connexions, either through misfortune or a 
morbid state of mind, which made him desire seclusion, 
took up his residence on Goat Island, and in the neigh- 
borhood of the falls, for two years; and became so fasci- 
nated with the solitude, and infatuated with the scenery, 
that no inducement could divert his thoughts, or draw 
him from the spot, where he acquired the name of the 
«*Hermit of Niagara Falls.'* 

He arrived on foot in June, 1829, dressed in a loose 
gown or cloak of a chocolate color, carrying under his 
arm a roll of blankets, a flute, a portfolio, and a large 
book; which constituted the whole of his baggage. He 
took up his abode, in the first instance, at a small inn 
on the American side, stipulating that the room he 
occupied should be exclusively his own, and that certain 
parts of his cooking only should be done by his host. 
He then repaired to the Library, where he gave his name, 
and borrowed some books and music books, and pur- 



THE PALLS. 



87 



The Hermit of Niagara Falla. 



chased a violin; the following day he again visited the 
Library, expatiated largely, with great ease and ability, 
on the beautiful scenery of the falls, and declared his 
intention of remaining at least a week; for <'a traveller 
might as well," he said, examine in detail the various 
museums and curiosities of x u s, as become acquainted 
with the splendid scenery of .agara in the same space 
of time." On a subsequent visit he declared his inten- 
tion of staying at least a month, perhaps six. Shortly 
after, he determined on fixing his abode on Goat Island, 
and was desirous of erecting a hut, in which he might 
live quite secluded; the proprietor of the island not 
thinking proper to grant this request, he occupied a 
small room in the only house, — being occasionally fur- 
nished with bread and milk by the family, but more 
generally providing and always cooking hid own food. 
During the second winter of his seclusion, the family 
removed, and to the few persons with whom he held 
communion, he expressed great satisfaction at being able 
to live alone. 

For some time he enjoyed this seclusion; but another 
family having entered the house, he quitted the island, 
and built himsilf a small cottage on the main shore, 
about thirty rods below the Great Fall. On the 10th of 
June, 1831, he was seen to bathe twice, and was obser- 
ved by the ferryman to enter the water a third time about 



^, 







IMAGE EVALUATION 
TEST TARGET (MT-3) 




1.0 



I.I 



III 1.8 



L25 11114 11.6 




Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 







23 WIST MAIN STREET 

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 

(716)872-4503 






88 



BOOK 6F 



The Hermit of Niagara Falls. 



two o'clock in the afternoon; his clothes remaining some 
hours where he had deposited them, an alarm was crea- 
ted, and an ineffectual search was made for him. On 
the 2]8t, his hody was taken out of the river at Fort 
Niagara, and was decently interred in the burial ground 
near the falls. When his cottage was examined, his 
dog was found guarding the door, and was with diffi- 
culty removed; his cat occupied his bed; his guitar, 
violin, flutes, music books, and portfolio, were scattered 
around in confusion; but not a single written papex of 
any kind was found (although he was known to compose 
much) to throw the least light on this extraordinary 
character. He was a person of highly cultivated mind 
and manners, a master of languages, read in the arts and 
sciences, and performed on various musical instruments 
with great taste; his drawings were also very spirited. 
He had travelled over Europe and many parts of the 
East, and possessed great colloquial powers when in- 
clined to be sociable; but at times he would desire not to 
be spoken to, and communicated his wishes on a slate; 
sometimes for three or four months together he would 
go unshaved, with no covering on his head, and his body 
enveloped in a blanket: shunning all, and seeking the 
deepest solitude. His age was not more than twenty- 
eight, his person well made, and his features handsome. 
. Many spots on Goat Island are consecrated to his 



THE PALLS. 



89 



The Hermit of Niagara Falls. 



memory; at the upper end he established his walk, 
which became hard trod and well beaten; between the 
Island and Moss Island was his favorite retreat for 
bathing; here he resorted at all seasons of the year 
even in the coldest weather, when ice was on the river; 
on the bridge to the Terrapin Rocks, it was his daily 
practice to walk for hours, from one extremity to the 
other with a quick pace; sometimes he would let him- 
self down at the end of the projecting timber, and hang 
under it by his hands and feet over the terrific precipice, 
for fifteen minutes at a time, and in the wildest hours of 
the night he was often found walkinf/ in the most dan- 
gerous places near the Falls. 

It is now ascertained that he was the son of the late 
John Abbot, (of Plymouth, England,) a member of the 
Society of Friends. His guitar, that beguiled so many 
of his solitary hours, and soothed him in his sorrow, is 
still preserved as a curiosity, and may be seen at Mr. 
Hooker's, in the village of Niagara Falls. 



- ■*.'. ,' 



i ■<■(' 



■.S i^.' 



" Hush'd is the lyre—the hand that swept 
The low and pensive wires, ' 

Robbed of its cunning, from the task retires; 
Yes— it is still— the lyre is still; 

The spirit which its slumbers broke, 

Hath pass'd away,— and that weak hand that woke 

Its forest melodies, hath lost its skill,'* 



.*■ 



,90 



JBOOK OP 



Village of Niagara Falls. 



VILLAGE OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



'^^f, 



The country in the immediate vicinity of the Falls on 
both sides of the river, presents many powerful attrac- 
tions for a permament residence. For salubrity of air 
and healthfulness of climate, it yields to no spot in the 
United States. Here, 



"Nature hath 
The very soul of music in ber look^, 
The sunshine and the shade of poetry." 



The latitude here is 43 degrees G minutes North, and 
the longitude 2 degrees 6 minutes West from Washing- 
ton. The winters are generally much milder than in 
New England, owing as supposed, to the action of the 
two neighboring lakes, that lie on either side. 

In a pamphlet published in London in the year 1834) 
written by Robert Burford, Esq., who spent the summer 
and autumn of 1832, in taking a panoramic view of the 
Falls, it is stated that this place is '^without all question, 
the most healthful of any on the continent of NQrth 
America. The heat of summer can there be borne with 
pleasure, while at the same time, the annoyance of mus- 
quitoes and other insects is unknown. Various are the 



THE FALLS. 



«1 



Village of Niagara Falls. 



Falls on 
attrac- 
ty of air 
)t in the 



rth, and 

^ashing- 

tlian in 

n of the 

t' 

lar 1834, 
summer 
17 of the 
uestion, 
f North 
ne with 
ofmus- 
are the 



conjectures whence arises the remarkable salubrity of 
this region; but the most natural is, that the agitation 
of the surrounding air produced by the tremendous Falls, 
combines with the elevation and dryness of the soil, and 
absence of swamps, to produce this happy result." 
: In the summer of 1832, when the cholera raged in all 
the villages around, as Buffalo, Lockport, Lewiston, &c.» 
.not a single case occurred here. Again, when this dis- 
ease visited many villages in the yicipity, in the summer 
of 1834, this place was wholly exempt. 

The village of Niagara Falls on the American side, 
formerly called Manchester, contains about 500 inhabi- 
tants. 

There are two spacious Hotels in the village, the Eagle 
and the Cataract, which will accommodate a large num- 
.ber of permanent guests. The latter is kept by Gen. P. 
Whitney & Sons, favorably known here in the business. 
•Gen. Whitney has been engaged in this business for 
nearly 20 years. The Eagle Hotel, formerly kept by 
T. W. Fanning, and now by Messrs.. C. B. Griffen &Co. 
A most splendid Hotel was commenced by the celebrated 
Benjamin Rathbun, in the year 1836, and the foundation 
and basement were completed, when the astounding 
developement of that person's affairs rendered it neces- 
sary for him to assign all his property, and all operations 
<on the. building in question ceased. It is hoped however 



92 



BOOK OF 



Steam-Boats. . .Rail Roads. . .Stages. 



that the building will be completed by the present pro- 
prietors. The village also contains a Presbyterian 
Church, and a **Union House," for the use of all 
other denominations when they choose to come to it- 
It has a Paper Mill, a Flouring Mill, and a few Mecha- 
nics' Shops; and there is an opportunity of using water 
here to an unlimited extent. j t 

Canal boats and sloops come from the Erie Canal and 
the Lake to Porter's Store-house, a short distance above 
the Falls. There are three Rail Roads now finished, 
which terminate at Niagara Falls. One from Buffalo, 
distant 22 miles — one from Lockport, and one from Lew- 
iston. Stage coaches run from the Falls in all directions, 
and the mail passes regularly twice every day. The 
roads from Buffalo, Lewiston and Lockport are now very 
good; equal to any in this region, and afford to travellers 
many delightful views of the river, the Falls, and the 
rapids; — especially as the road from Buffalo to Lewiston 
passes very near the bank of the river the whole distance. 
The steamboat Red Jacket also runs daily from Buffalo 
to the landing two miles above the Falls, and thence 
across to Chippewa, and returns daily by the saiiie route. 
This is a perfectly safe and very pleasant route to the 
Falls. At Lewiston, seven miles below, steamboats from 
Lake Ontario are daily bringing and receiving passengers. 
Near Lewiston commences the celebrated Ridge Road, — 



THE FALLS. 



93 



Ridge Road.. . .Visiters. 



formerly, without doubt, a sand bank on the margin of 
Lake Ontario, — and runs east to Rochester, and thence 
nearly to Oswego, a distance of about 140 miles. It 
runs parallel with the Lake« from six to ten miles distant, 
is from forty to eighty yards wide, thirty feet higher 
than the contiguous land, and one hundred and thirty- 
nine feet higher than the I^ake. It is an excellent road 
at all seasons of the year. 



NUMBER OP VISITERS. 



The number of visiters at the falls has of late years 
been from twelve to fifteen thousand annually, and the 
number is every year increasing. On the occasion of 
sending the Michigan over the falls, some years since, 
from thirty to fifty thousand persons were supposed to 
be here together; and when the Superior was sent over, 
fifleen thousand. The fashionable, the opulent, and the 
learned, congregate here from the principal cities of the 
country; from the Southern and Western States, South 
America, the West Indies, the Canadas, all parts of 
Europe, and indeed from all countries. 

Exiled monarchs, foreign ambassadors, whigs, tories, 
radicals, royalists, naval and military officers, governors, 
judges, lawyers, senators, &c, with a good proportion of 



94 



BOOK OF 



Niagara. 



female worthies, assemble here to view these indes- 
cribable works of God. One of these last, during a visit 
here in the summer of 1834, penned the following beau- 
tiful lines, which are worthy of being preserved as a 
memorial of female worth and genius. 



■'■■■-' '.'V''- ^ ■ NIAGARA. "..^ 

> ".»■•-■'■'■■ 

Flow on forever, in thy glorious robe 
Of terror and of beauty! God hath set 
His rainbow on thy forhead, and the cloud 
Mantles around thy feet. And he doth give 
The voice of thunder, power to speak of Him 
Eternally— bidding the Up of man 
Keep silence, and upon thy rocky altar pour 
Incense of awe-stricken praise. 

■^ And who can dare 

To lift the insect trump of earthly Hope, 
Or Love, or Sorrow,-— mid the peal sublime 
Of thy tremendous hymn?— E'en Ocean shrinks 
Back from thy brotherhood, and his wild waves 
Retire abashed.- -For he doth sometimes seem 
To sleep like u rpent laborer, and recall 
His weary billows from their vexing play, 
And lull them in a cradle calm:— but thou. 
With everlasting, undecaying tide. 
Dost rest not, night or day. 

The morning stars. 
When first they sang o'er young Creation's birth. 



i-, '■:. 



THE FALLS. 



95 



Niagara. 



e indes- 
ig a visit 
)g beau- 
ved as a 



t-i 



-.!'■ 



Heard thy deep anthem— and those wreaking fires 
That wait th' Archangel's signal to dissolve 
The solid Earth, shall find Jehovah's name 
Graven, as with a thousand diamond spears, 
On thy unfathomed page. £ach leafy bough, 
That lifts itself within thy proud domain, 
Doth gather greatness from thy living spray, 

:; And tremble at the baptism. Lo! yon birds, 
Do venture boldly near, bathing their wing 

, , Amid thy foam and mist.— 'Tis meet for them 
To touch thy garment's hem,— or lightly stir 
The snowy leaflets of thy vapor wreath,— 
Who sport unharmed upon the fleecy cloud, 
And listen at the gates of Heaven, 
:^ Without reproof. But, as for us,— it seems r 

, Scarce lawful with our broken tones to speak 

, Familiarly of thee. Methinks, to tint ., " 

Thy glorious features with our pencil's point, 
Or woo thee to the tablet of a song, 
Were profanation. .- 

Thou dost make the soul 
A wondering witness of thy majesty; « 

And while it rushes with delirious joy 
To tread thy vestibule, dost chain its steps, 
And check its rapture, with the humbling view 
Of its own nothingness — bidding it stand 
* In the dread presence of th' Invisible, ' '"""," 

As if lo answer to its God through thee. '"''*' 

Hartford, Conn. L. H. S. 



96 



BOOK OF 



Visiters. . .Parties, &c. 



This will no doubt hereafter become a place of great 
resort for invalids, as the health of such is generally 
observed to improve immediately on coming here. If any 
place in the country is peculiarly propitious for the reco* 
very and preservation of health, this is the place. 

During the winter months, though there are so many 
visiters, they are generally such as are passing through 
the region on business, and stay only a short time. Fre- 
quently however, parties from BufiTalo, Lockport, Roch- 
ester, Canandaigua, and other places, visit the Falls by 
sleighing; and after spending a day or two, go away 
enraptured with the scene. 

Many visiters err greatly in their calculation in regard 
to the time which they ought to spend h^re. They 
come hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to view 
the falls, and then hurry away before they have had 
time to get any very full or distinct impression of the 
scene, or to visit one fifth of the interesting points, from 
which the falls and rapids ought to be viewed. The 
object of the visit is thus in a great measure lost. Visit- 
ers should make their calculations, in the summer es- 
pecially, to spend at least a week. 

Persons who spend some time at the falls, will find 
several places in the vicinity, on both sides of the river, 
worthy a special visit. Eleven miles south, on the 
American side, is the village of Tonawanda, from which 



THE FALLS. 



97 



of great 

generally 

Ifany 

rhe reco' 



90 many 
through 
e. Fre- 
ty Roch- 
Falls by 
;o away 

i regard 
They 

to view 

ve had 
of the 

s, from 
The 
Visit- 

ner es- 

ill find 
5 river, 
m the 
which 



Places of Resort in the vicinity of the Falls. 

there is a ferry across to White Haven on Grand Island; 
proceeding eleven miles further, you pass through Black 
Rock to Buffalo and Lake Erie. One mile below the 
falls, is Point View, so called; one mile further you find 
the Mineral Spring; one mile further the Whirlpool; half 
a mile further, the Devil's Hole; eight miles from the 
falls, the village of the Tuscarora Indians; seven miles, 
Lewiston village, where the steam-boats from Lake 
Ontario receive passengers; seven miles below Lewis- 
ton is the village of Toungstown, and one mile further. 
Fort Niagara, standing on the border of Lake Ontario. 

From the falls on the Canada side, one mile south 
brings you to the burning spring; two and a half miles 
to Chippewa battle ground and village; twenty miles 
through the village of Waterloo to Fort Erie near Lake 
Erie. From the falls north, one mile brings you to Lun- 1 
dy's Lane, where the battle of Bridgewater was fought; 
three and a half miles to the Whirlpool; six and a half 
to Queei^ton Heights and Brock's Monument; seven 
miles to Queenston village, opposite Lewiston; and 
fourteen miles to the village of Niagara and Fort George. 
Eight miles from the falls west, is the "Deep Cut,** so 
called, of the Welland Canal, a place much visited in the 
summer. To carry you to any or all these places, car- 
riages can always be had at a few moment's notice on 
either side of the river. ^ ^ 

9 



98 



BOOK OF 



Deflcription of the Falls. 



Hi .i 



APPENDIX. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



In approaching the end of our little volume, we cannot 
refrain from inserting a few extracts from the pens of 
those who by their language, show that they had minds 
to understand, and souls to appreciate, the sublimity and 
loveliness of Niagara. 

The following dngular and fanciful observations are 
to be found in the Duke de Liancourt'«i account of his 
visit to the Falls in 1795. 

* <From a country almost level, a chairi of naked rocks 
here rises, upon both sides of the river, which at this 
point is contracted to the width of a single mile: these 
are the Alleghany Mountains, which extend to this point 
after having traversed the continent of North America 
from Florida upon the South. 

<*Mons. de Blacons conducted us to a point known, in 
the language of the country as, Table Rock, This is 
itself part of the rock from which the river is precipi- 
tated, and we found it barely above the level of the 
river's bed, and almost within its rushing waters; so that 
we saw, with entire safety the plunge of the torrent into 
the basin at our feet, and yet «hould have been hurled 
headlong down the cataract ourselves, had we advanced 



THE FALLS. 



99 



Description of the Falls. 



but two paces farther! From this position we enjoyed, 
at the same instant, the august spectacle of the foaming 
waters, as with a deafening roar they approached, through 
the rapids, this astonishing cataract, and of the eddying 
basin below, in which but an instant afterwards, these 
same waters were ingulfed. It is certainly while stand- 
ing at this point that this wonder of nature should be 
contemplated and studied, if the spectator is to view it 
from only one; but to drink in all its majesty it is neces- 
sary to observe it from all, since from whatever position, 
the beholder still finds the scene one of confounding and 
overwhelming admiration, bordering upon stupefaction. 
''The falls of Niagara are comparable to nothing in 
nature. Neither the agreeable, the rude, the romantic, 
nor the beautiful enters into the scene; but wonder and 
wild astonishment at first sight seizes upon all the 
faculties, and their dominion is constantly strengthened 
by subsequent and profound contemplation of the pic- 
ture, until the mind is finally convinced of its utter 
inability to convey or communicate the impressions so 
deeply stamped upon it by this terrific sport of nature." 

, The following is from the pen of the Rev. Andrew 

Reed, author of that simple, yet beautiful work, ''No 

Fiction;'* and is, we think, a most happy effort, and by 

far the best description we ever met with, embodied in 

so few words. 

"At lengtjb* ^« ea^ ^he^i^ i* islnj^ ^Hrco^Egh-thfi Jtr^es, 
and settling like a'^AriiifcetclQitd ,t)V^r klkeni^ jsmji ^pn we 
heard the*vmce* o5 tha JDisrhty waters — a voic& dll*its 
own, and w6rthy Ofi ttjielf. • •Uavp Jro^jiev«r;f^l]f ft-tfi 



•tftfm- 



100 



BOOK OP 



Description of the Falls. 



bling backwardness to look on what you have intensely 
desired to see? If not, you will hardly understand my 
feeling. While all were now searching for some glance 
of the object itself, I was disposed to turn aside, lest it 
should surprise me. This no doubt was partly caused 
by the remark I had so often heard, that the first view 
disappoints you. I concluded, that this arose from the 
tfirst view not being a fair one, and I was determined to 
do justice to the object of my reverence. In fulfilling 
this purpose, I reached the Pavilion without seeing any 
thing; disposed of my affairs there, and hastened down 
towards the Falls; and found myself actually on the 
Table Rock to receive my first impressions. 

<*Let any one pursue the same course, and he will not 
talk of first impressions disappointing him; or if he 
should, then he ought to go twenty miles another way; 
Niagara was not made for him. 

"From the Table Rock I descended to the base. — 
There I clambered out on the broken rocks, and sat — J 
know not how long. The day was the least favorable 
of any we had. The atmosphere was heavy; the foam 
hung about the object and concealed one half of it; and 
the wind blew from the opposite side, and brought the 
spray upon you so as to wet you exceedingly. The use 
of cloak or umbrella were troublesome; you could not 
wholly forget your person, and think only of one thing. 
However, had I not seen it in this state of tjb,e atmoi^phere 
1 s]ipuld ha,vQ Wtgc^^ed ^omj& vi^ws jvv'bish iriow occupy my 
imagtnfitipn., ;Tti(*- whcje ij»' ^irceediiigif solemn when 
natU]^ 11*6 wns; and wh^n myich is hidden, xvhile yet the 
ey>fi^a^'iK3^'mark^^ the.ciitlinc^ th^r^ jp/?. m^steriousness 



THE FALLS. 



101 



Description of the Falls. 



spread over the object which suits your conception of its 
greatness, and in which the imagination loves to luxu- 
riate. I can scarcely define to you my impressions on 
this first day; 1 can scarcely define them to myself. 1 
was certainly not disappointed; but I was confounded. 
I felt as though I had received a shock, and required 
time to right myself again. 

**I returned to the Pavilion, which is about half a mile 
from the Falls, and retired to my chamber, which over- 
looked them. I mused on what I had seen, and was still 
confounded. I sought rest that I might be fresh for the 
morrow; but rest did not come so freely. The continu- 
ous deep sounds of the waters would have sung me to 
sleep, but the tremor of the house and ground, which 
shook the window like those of a stage coach, kept me 
wakeful; and when 1 fell into slumbers, the flitting 
dreams of what I had seen, would trouble and break 
them. 

^'Notwithstanding all disturbances, I rose on the next 
morning in good spirits. The day was all that could be 
wished. The sun shining, the heavens transparent, gar- 
nished with bright and peaceful clouds. The wind, too, 
was gentle and refreshing; and had shifted to our side, 
so as to promise the nearest points of sight without the 
discomfort of getting wet through. 

<'I now look fairly on the scene as it presented itself 
at my window, in the fair lights of the morning. It is 
composed rather of the accompaniments of the fall than 
of the fall itself You look up the river full ten miles, 
and it runs in this part from two to three miles in breadth. 
Here it has formed, in its passage, beautiful little bays; 



9* 



102 



BOOK OF 



Description of the Falls. 



and there it has worked through the slips of main-land 
putting out the fragments as so many islets to decorate 
its surface; while, on either hand, it is bounded by the 
original forests of pine. At the upper extremity you see 
the blue waters calmly resting under the more cerulean 
heavens; while nearer to you it becomes agitated, like a 
strong man preparing to run a race. It swells, and foams, 
and recoils, as though it were committed to some despe- 
rate issue; and then suddenly contracts its dimensions, 
as if to gather up all its power for the mighty leap 
it is about to make. This is all you see here; and it is 
enough. 

'^I lefl the hotel, and went down to the Table Rock, 
This is usually deemed the great point of sight; and for 
an upper view it undoubtedly is. It is composed of seve- 
ral ledges of rocks, having different advantages, and pro- 
jecting as far over the gulf below as they can to be safe. 
But how shall I describe the objects before me! The 
mysterious veil which lay heavily yesterday on a large 
part of it, was now removed; and the outline of the pic- 
ture was mostly seen. An ordinary picture would have 
suffered by this; but here the real dimensions are so vast, 
and so far beyond what the eye has measured, that to 
see them is not to fetter, but to assist the imagination. 
This fall, which is called the Horseshoe Fall, is upwards 
of two thousand feet in extent, and makes a leap, on an 
average, of about 160 feet. Now just enlarge your con- 
ceptions to thepe surprising dimensions, and suppose 
yourself to be recumbent on the projecting rock which I 
have named, as near the verge as you dare, and I will 
assist you to look at the objects as they present them- 
selves. 



•v' 



THE FALLS. 



103 



Description of the Falls. 



n-land 

corate 

by the 

ou see 

irulean 

like a 

oams, 

despe- 

nsions, 

y leap 

id it is 

Rock, 
md for 
f seve- 
id pro- 
e safe. 
The 
L large 
fie pic- 
1 have 
vast, 
hat to 
lation. 
wards 
on an 
r con- 
ippose 
hichi 
Iwill 
them- 



**You see not now above the cataract the bed of the 
river, but you still see the foaming heads of the rapids, 
like waves of the ocean, hurrying to the precipice; and 
over them the light clouds which float on the horizon.— 
Then comes the chute itself. It is not in the form of the 
horseshoe; it is not composed of either circular or straight 
lines; but it partakes of both; and throughout it is 
marked by projections and indentations, which give an 
amazing variety of form and aspect. With all this 
variety it is one. It has all the power which is derived 
from unity, and none of the stiffness which belongs to 
uniformity. There it fs.Ils in one dense awful mass of 
green waters, unbroken and resistless; here it is broken 
into drops, and falls like a sea of diamonds sparkling in 
the sun. Now it-shoots forth like rockets in endless suc- 
cession; and now it is so light and foaming that it dan- 
ces in the sun as it goes, and before it has reached the 
pool, it is driven up again by the ascending currents of 
air. Then there is the deep expanding pool below. — 
Where the waters pitch, all is agitation and foam, so that 
the foot of the fall is never seen; and beyond it and 
away, the waters spread themselves out like a rippling 
sea of liquid alabaster. This last feature is perfectly 
unique, and you would think nothing could add to its 
exquisite loveliness; but there lies on it, as if they were 
made for each other, **heaven*s own bow." O never 
had it, in heaven itself, so fdr a resting-place! 

<< Besides, by reason of the different degress of rarity 
in the waters and the atmosphere, the sun is pervading 
the whole scene with unwonted lights and hues. And 
the foam which is flying off in all directions, is insensi- 



104 



BOOK OF 



W. 



Description of the Falls* 



bly condensed, and forms a pillar of cloud, which moves 
oyer the scene, as it once did over the tents of Israel, 
and apparently by the same bidding, giving amazing 
variety, and sublimity, and unearthliness to the picture. 
Then there is sound as well as sight; but what sound! 
it is not like the sea; nor like the thunder; nor like any 
thing I have heard. There is no roar, no rattle; nothing 
sharp or angry in its tones; it is deep, awful, one! 

"Well, as soon as I could disengage myself from this 
spot, I descended to the bed of the fall. I am never 
satisfied with any fall till I have availed myself of the 
very lowest standing it supplies: it is there usually that 
you become susceptible of its utmost power, I scram- 
bled, therefore, over the dislocated rocks, and put myself 
as near as possible to the object which I wished to ab- 
sorb me. I was not disappointed. 

"There were now fewer objects in the picture, but 
what you saw had greater prominence and power over 
you. Every thing ordinary — foliage, trees,- hills — was 
shut out; the smaller attributes of the fall were also ex- 
cluded; and I was lefl alone with its own greatness. At 
my feet the waters were creaming, swelling, and dashing 
away, as if in terror, from the scene of conflict, at the 
rate of twenty miles an hour. Above and overhaTiging 
me was the Table Rock, with its majestic form, and dark 
and livid colors, threatening to crush one. While im- 
mediately before me was spread in al! its height and 
majesty — not in parts, but as a whole, beyond what the 
eye could embrace — the unspeakf>ble cataract itself; 
with its head now touching the horizon, and seeming 
to fall direct from heaven, and rushing to the earth with 



h moves 
f Israel, 
amazing 
picture. 

sound! 
like any 
nothing 
il 

'om this 
« never 
■ of the 
lly that 

scram- 
; myself 

to ab- 

re, but 
er over 
3 — was 
Iso ex. 
s. At 
ashing 
at the 

inging 

d dark 
le im- 
it and 
at the 
itself; 
jming 
with 







\ BrUifh / 'lUl frp, . u n^4>r TtiJ'U Ji4Jrk. 



THE PALLS. 



105 



Description of tlie Falls. 



a weight and voice which made the rocks beneath and 
around me fearfully to tremble. Over this scene the 
cloud of foam mysteriously moved, rising upward, so as 
to spread itself partly on the face of the fall, and partly 
on the face of the sky: while over all were seen the bieau- 
tiful and soft colors of the rainbow, forming almost an 
entire circle, and crowning it with celestial glory. But 
it is in vain. The power, the sublimity, the beauty, the 
bliss of that spot, of that hour — it cannot be told. 

"When fairly exhausted by intensity of feeling, I 
strolled away towards the ferry, to pass over to the Ame- 
rican side. The falls here, from the distance,^ have a 
plain and uniform aspect: but this wholly disappears on 
approaching them. They are exceedingly fine. They 
do not subdue you as on the Canada side; but they 
fill you with a solemn and delightful sense of their 
grandeur and beauty. The character of the one is beau- 
tiful, inclining to the sublime; and that of the other, the 
sublime, inclining to the beautiful. There is a single slip 
of the fall on this side, which, in any other situation, 
would be regarded as a most noble cataract. It falls 
nearly 200 feet; it is full 20 feet wide at the point of 
fall, and spreads itself like a fan in falling, so as to strike 
on a line of some 50 or 60 feet. It has great power and 
beauty. 

<<I found that there was a small ledge of rock behind 
this fall, and ventured on it to about the centre. You 
can stand here without getting at all wet; the waters 
shcot out several feet before you; and, if you have 
nerve, it is entirely safe. 1 need not say that the nov- 
elty and beauty of the situation amply reward you. You 



106 



BOOK OF 



Description of the Falls. 



are behind the sheet of water, and the sun is shining on 
its face, illuminating the whole body with a variety pro- 
portioned to its density. Here, before you, the heavy 
waters fall in unbroken columns of bright green. There, 
they flow down like a shower of massy crystals, radiant 
with light, and emitting as they fall all the prismatic 
colors; while there, again, they are so broken and 
divided as to resemble a shower of gems sparkling in 
light, and shooting across the blue heavens. 

<<I passed by what is called Goat Island to the extre- 
mity of the Horse-shoe fall on this side. There is car> 
ried out over the head of this fall a limb of timber, with 
a hand-rail to it. It projects some 12 feet over the abyss, 
and is meant to supply the place of the Table Rock on 
the other side. It does so in a great measure; and as, 
while it is quite as safe, it gives you far less sense of 
safety, it disposes you the more to sympathize with ob- 
jects of terror. Indeed, when you fairly get to the extre- 
mity, and find yourself standing out in this world of wa- 
ters on a slip of wood only large enough for your feet to 
rest on, and which is quivering beneath you; when the 
waters are rushing down under you; when the spray is 
flying over you; and \^hen the eye seeks to fathom the 
unfathomable and boisterous gulf below; you have, per- 
haps, as much of the terrible as will consist with gratifi- 
cation. Very many of the visiters never think of encoun- 
tering this point of view; those who do and have a taste 
for it will never forget it. It is among the finest of the 
fine. 

* 'In returning, I wandered round the little island. It 
is covered with forest trees of a fine growth, and is full 



THE FALLS. 



107 



Description of the Falls. 



of picturesque beauty. Days might be spent here in 
happy and deep seclusion; protected from the burning 
sun; regaled by lovely scenes of nature, and the music 
of the sweetest waters; and in fellowship, at will, with 
the mighty falls. 

<*The next morning was the last; and it was given 
wholly to the Great Fall. I prepared, in the first instance 
to go behind it. This is the chief adventure; and is by 
most writers described as dangerous. There is no dan- 
ger if the overhanging rocks keep their places, and if you 
have moderate self-possession. I made use of the oil 
cloth dress provided by the guide, and was quarrelling 
with it as damp and uncomfortable; but that grievance 
was quickly disposed of. 1 had not made my entrance 
behind the scenes before 1 was drenched, and the less I 
had on the better. H<?^ ver, it was an admirable shower- 
bath; and there was an end to the question of wet or dry^ 
<*Take care of your breath." was the cry of the guide; 
and I had need, for it was almost gone. On making 
a further advance, I recovered it, and felt relieved. 
**Now give me your hand," said the guide; *'this is the 
narrowest part." Onward I went, till he assured me that 
I was on Termination Rock: the extreme point acces- 
sible to the foot of man. 

<^As the labor of the feet was over, and there was 
good standing, I determined on making the best use of 
my eyes. But this was not so easy to do. The spray 
and waters were driving in my face, and coursing down 
my sides most strangely: a strong wind from the foot of 
the fall was driving in the opposite direction, so as to 
threaten not to blow me down, but to blow me up to the 



r»"^ 



108 



BOOK OF 



Description of the Falls. 



roof of the vault. However, I soon ascertained that we 
were at the extremity of a cavern of a large and wonderful 
construction. It is the form of a pointed arch; the one 
span composed of rolling and dense water, and the other 
of livid black rocks. It was some 50 feet from the foot 
of the rock to that of the water, and I had entered about 
70 feet. On the entrance, which is mostly of thinner 
waters, the sun played cheerfully, and with glowing 
power; but within, it was contrasted by the dim light 
and heavy obscurity which are generated by the density 
of the fall, to which the whole power of the sun can 
give only a semi-transparency. What with this visible 
gloom, the stunning noise of the fall, and the endless 
commotion of wind and waters, the effect is most sin- 
gulp" and awful. It is a scene that would harmonize with 
th creations of Fuseli; and it has, I will venture to 
say, real horrors, beyond what the cave of old iGolus 
ever knew. 

**0n returning to my dressing-room, I received a cer- 
tificate from the guide that I had really been to termina- 
tion Rock; an ingenious device to give importance to his 
vocation, but in the success of which he does not miscal- 
culate on human nature. The rest of the morning was 
employed in taking peeps at the Falls from favorite points 
of observation; but chiefly from the Table Rock, and at 
the foot of the Great Falls. The day was exceedingly 
fine, and every feature of the amazing scene was lighted 
up with all its beauty; and I now communed with it as 
one would with a friend who has already afforded you 
rich enjoyment in his society. I was delighted — was 
fascinated. Every thing, apart or together, seemed to 
have acquired greater power and expression. I studied 
all the parts; they were exquisite, lovely, noble; I put 
them all together, and it overwhelmed me, subdued me, 
fixed me to the spot. Long I stayed; but all time was 
short. I went, and returned; and knew not how to go." 



THE FALLS. 109 

DISTANCES. 

From Steamboat Landing across to Chippewa, Miles 2^ 

From Fort Schlosser to Chippewa, ** 1^ 

From the Falls to Chippewa, *< 2 

Across the River at the Falls, '< % 

To Goat Island by the Bridge, Rods 58 

Across the Falls on the American side, <* 56 

Across the foot of Goat Island, <* 80 

Length of Goat Island, « 160 

Across the Horse Shoe Fall, << 114 

From the Eagle and Cataract Hotels to Tabic « 

Rock, Miles 1| 

From the above Hotels to the top of the bank. Rods 100 
Top of the bank down the Stair-case to 

theRiver, " 28 

Width of river at the Ferry, * < 76 

Up the Canada bank, <' 76 

From the Falls to the Mineral Springs, Miles 2 

To the Whirlpool, ** 3 

To the Devil's Hole, " 3J 

To Erie Canal at Tonawanda, <* 11 

To Buffalo, , « * 22 

To Lockport,..i(.i,,*. .;«!*.*..*.;. .;.».. •.*.*' rf.i '^^ 'fS 

ToLewiston,...::.;:::.^:.::;.^;..^:::;;"'*^•' V 

Depth of water. ^t iha Hofie Shqe; vV.*.**. . t ;. . r^eej.' 2t): .' 
Depth of water at" the* Fferry,; .':;'./."..•.-.;• ««'' feSO' ' 

10 



I ! 



.-/, ..■ 



NOTE. 

BROCK'S MONUMEiNT — This beautiful structure was blown 
up with powder, by some as yet unknown miscreants on the night 
of the 17th April 1840, and very nearly ruined. 

The key stone, over the door, is thrown out, the inscription 
stone has a large crack through the centre. A large fissure extends 
nearly half way up the building, on the side where the door is pla- 
ced, then forks, and the forks are carried up to nearly two thirds of 
the height. 

On the other side there are likewise several fissures. The dome 
is very much rent, the balcony broken, and the iron railing around, 
bent and disordered. The door at the top leading from the foot of 
the dome to the balcony, was open, otherwise the dome must have 
been blown off. 

No discovery has yet been made of the perpetrators of the deed 
nor does any one know What were their motives. The action is 
certainly deserving of severe censure. Disturbing the monuments 
Raised in honor of the dead, we had thought would not have been 
attemptpxl by any in this age. , 



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c was blown 
on the night 

s inscription 
isure extends 
! door is pla- 
two thirds of 

. The dome 
iling around, 
m the foot of 
lemust have 



s of the deed 
["he action is 
e monuments 
lOt have been 



